For the second straight year, the Brewers and Dodgers will meet in the NLCS with a matchup of managers who know each other very well.
In 2015, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was the Padres bench coach and interim manager for one game after Bud Black was fired in June.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy followed Roberts as the Padres next interim manager for the remainder of that season.
That’s my coach, during his halftime interview.
“He can go become the All NBA player or he can become Julius Randle.”
That’s Sam Vecenie’s take on the Orlando Magic star.
“He has not been good enough or efficient enough for how much usage he takes up.”
There are ten million reasons why this year feels different…. here’s another one.
According to Ari Meirov, the 2026 Raiders have the fewest number of accepted penalty yards against them through three games.
Shhhh… don’t tell the NFL. Never mind, we play the Chiefs this week.
“The total of rushing attempts and completions by Kirk Cousins. If that reaches 50, the Raiders win this game.”
That is the mathematical formula to victory according to Q Myers, by way of John Harbaugh, and originally Bill Parcells.
When it comes to the Raiders, I always trust what Q has to say, but I still decided to dig a little deeper.
In week one of the NFL season (last week), 11 of the 16 winning teams had 50+ rushing attempts plus completions, while just three of the 16 losing teams did it.
So far, so good.
The Raiders were one of those winning teams over 50. Cousins completed 21 passes while the Raiders ran 37 times for a total of 58.
If you’re assuming the Raiders didn’t reach 50 many times last year since we only won three games, you would be right. We had 51 in the loss to Shedeur Sanders and 50 in the blowout loss at Indianapolis, and that was it.
For the year, the Raiders averaged 42.294 in 17 games. In the last six games of the year, the Raiders averaged 37.5.
Yada, yada, yada… with the first pick the Las Vegas Raiders select Fernando Mendoza.
On the flip side, I went back to 2016, the winningest Raiders season this century, when we had 12 victories.
That year we averaged 50.438 including more than 52 per game in our dozen wins and 45.5 in our four losses.
Sounds like we have a game plan for Sunday.
“They have no plans on playing Mendoza. If Kirk Cousins plays well, it’s his job for the entirety of the season.”
That’s Mark Schlereth today on with Mad Dog Russo today on SiriusXM.
Schlereth was the Fox color commentator for last Sunday’s game and shared some takeaways from his pregame conversations with the Raiders including this from Kirk Cousins.
“The best thing I can do for Mendoza is play exceptionally well and show him what an NFL offense looks like.”
Cousins added that he has reached out to Tom Brady as necessary and Brady has been quick to get back to him.
“I have a seven-time Super Bowl Champion on speed dial with any question I have. If you have a question, he’s gonna come with an honest answer.”
And just in case you were still wondering if Rick Dennison is a better offensive line coach than Brennan Carroll, Schlereth said this about Dennison’s interaction with JPJ.
“Jackson Powers-Johnson is a much improved player. Rick Dennison said you got to lose a bunch of weight if you’re gonna play for me.”
As a pretty big Dodger fan, I’ve known the name Josue De Paula for a while.
I’ve known he was a top prospect who was going to stay on the farm unless Andy Pages fractured his left hand and Shohei Ohtani had “lingering issues with his left knee and right biceps”.
Since both of those things happened, Josue got the call up on Wednesday night.
What I didn’t know is that De Paula is related to former NBA players Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair., but apparently the tall skinny prospect never played organized basketball.
According to something called redblackgreenbaseballblog.com:
“Josue De Paula’s lanky 6’4’’ frame and thick Brooklyn accent would lead most people to assume he spends a lot of time on the basketball court, but the truth is he started playing baseball at the age of four and never looked back. “My dad loves baseball, so he introduced me to it. And ever since I played, I fell in love with it,” he said with a smile. “On my mother’s side, everyone plays basketball. I’m the first one to play a different sport.”
“I can’t do this last love scene. Please don’t make me kiss her.”
That’s actor Billy Baldwin describing how he went to the studio head during the taping of “Sliver” and begged them to change the final sex scene with Sharon Stone as the tension between the two actors had boiled over.
Baldwin is a guest on the latest “Lisa Guerrero Unleashed” podcast on YouTube and he spoke for 17 minutes on the running feud with Stone. He told a story about how the crew despised working with her so much that they spray painted a crude message on the wall directed at Stone.
Other great stories in the show included Billy talking about his current battle with brother Daniel over politics, how his first acting coach set him up with Marla Maples to try and break her up with Donald Trump, how as a six-year-old, his wife Chynna Phillips once walked in on her mom with Mick Jagger and how he was offered the lead to the movie “Speed”, but turned it down, five times.
It’s an amazing watch.
“I’m back. I’m mad. I’ve never been more motivated.”
That’s Kyle Brandt of the NFL Network making his prediction that Maxx Crosby will the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Brandt pointed to the trade that never happened as the latest motivation for Maxx to earn this honor.
“I don’t know of anyone who has ever played with that.”
The Raiders seem to be doing everything they can to do the right thing for Fernando Mendoza.
The next step to that needs to be making AOC the backup quarterback so that Fernando’s debut doesn’t come in the third quarter of a random game because Kirk Cousins rolled an ankle.
And I’m not the only one who feels that way.
David Carr made that case on the Carr Brothers recent podcast “Home Grown”.
“What if they put AOC as the second (string)? And then they protect Fernando from even being in that situation.”
Derek Carr, who started from day one for the Raiders — and lost his first ten games — is on board with giving Fernando the time to sit and watch.
“If you have made a decision as an organization to redshirt the kid, then do it.”
“He looks actually pretty good. There’s a reason why the Raiders didn’t put him on short term IR, because I think he’s gonna be available sooner rather than later.”
That’s Raiders reporter Q Myers giving an update on Ashton Jeanty that he caught by accident.
Q said he was filming the quarterbacks yesterday when he saw Jeanty and Dont’e Thornton in the background working on a side field.
Myers said he didn’t put the video out because he’s not allowed to show players who have injuries.
“Something tells me we won’t see Ashton Jeanty and Dont’e Thornton Jr. out there today. They’ll be out there doing their work with the trainers but after they send us back to the media room.”
According to Field Yates, the Raiders were not the only team to put a claim in for Niners cornerback Darrell Luter, they were just the first in line.
This may not be news to you, but it was for me.
I was aware that the Raiders are first when it comes to claiming free agents released by other teams on Sunday.
I was NOT aware that the Raiders could select as many players as they wanted before the second team (NYJ) could start claiming players. Thank you Ari Meirov for that little nugget.
Before you get too excited, remind yourself that the talent pool of released players starts with like the 1700th best player in the NFL and for each player we claim, we will have to release someone from our 53 man roster.
That said, if we can scoop up a WR (bring home Zay Jones?) and a DT (some 350 pounder I've never heard of) things could get very interesting in a couple of hours.
Bill Simmons is a funny guy, even when he is not trying to be.
On his recent podcast with The Ringer fantasy football guys, Simmons said A.J. Brown is REALLY happy to be joining his former coach Mike Vrabel in New England.
“This is like I got divorced with the wife I never liked and now I’m dating somebody and I’ve lost twenty pounds and I have a new haircut and new clothes and I’m just so (effing) happy.”
Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?
Karissa Shannon was back on the Lisa Guerrero Unleashed podcast today, this time to break some pretty big personal news.
Shannon also spoke about her upcoming appearance on The Girls Next Level pod with Holly and Bridget.
Found this hidden gem from former Mets GM Steve Phillips in the middle of his recent interview with Mad Dog Russo.
Back in the day Phillips reached out to Hall of Famers Tom Seaver and Joe Morgan to see if they would manage the Mets and they both passed.
Phillips was Mets GM from 1997-2003 and he was looking to replace Bobby Valentine in 2002.
Art Howe got the job as Valentine’s replacement and lasted two years.
“We are hungry, please let us in.”
Those words from Tupac were not about the Raiders but that’s the slogan Q Myers came up with for this year’s team.
Q, who covers this team better than anyone, said everyone in this organization, top to bottom, and of course the fan base is ready to eat.
“We are all in the same boat on this, we are all hungry. I think that describes everyone. RaiderNation is starving.”
"I'd rather watch a WNBA game than an NBA game."
John Salley, who won four rings in the NBA, is the guest on the Lisa Guerrero Unleashed podcast.
The two former teammates on The Best Damn Sports Show discussed who the GOAT is, what it was like for Salley to act with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence and what's next for him.
"The victim in all of what's happened in the last eight to ten years has been the media... and science."
That's Joan Lunden who has spent the last 50 years of her life working in television including twenty years as co-host of Good Morning America.
Lunden is the guest on the latest Lisa Guerrero Unleashed podcast and she spoke about the state of media and how she had "incredible concern" when hearing about the changes at 60 minutes.
"It's our hope that every American feels that way and of course every American doesn't feel that way."
For all the people who think the Raiders receiving core is weak, I’m not buying it.
Can we use a true #1? Of course. So can half the league. JSN was an absolute game changer in Seattle last year, as was Puka with the Rams and um… that was about it.
The etroit Lions and allas Cowboys each had a pair of receivers with over 1000 yards and neither team made the playoffs. Trey McBride had the second most catches and second most receiving touchdowns in the league and his team won three games.
Am I hoping we lose just enough games this year to draft Jeremiah Smith next year? HELL NO! I hope we win the Super Bowl, but if we don’t win the Super Bowl, I would be ok if we lose just enough games this year to draft Jeremiah Smith next year.
But even without Jeremiah or Justin Jefferson or Tyreek or Diggs or Deebo or whatever other nonsense the twitter “Insiders” keep vomiting, the group we have right now is pretty damn good.
Start with Brock Bowers. Obviously the Raiders need to keep him on the field, he started only eight games last year, but his numbers were still as good as the best tight end in the league.
Take McBride. In 17 games, he had 169 targets with 126 catches, 1239 yards and 11 touchdowns in what was considered a historic season. Bowers had almost exactly half as many targets and pretty much half as many receptions, yards and only four fewer touchdowns.
From there, we’ve got Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor, Jack Bech and Michael Mayer. Sure, none of those guys may get drafted in my fantasy league, but they could all feast in this offense.
I’m well aware that Tucker is not Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but Klint Kubiak is not Chip Kelly either. Tucker put up nearly 700 receiving yards and five touchdowns last year WITH GENO SMITH AS HIS QB! Are you telling me 1000 yards and seven TDs for Tucker is not possible?
Courtland Sutton, the Broncos #1 receiver who got a $92 million extension this off-season, had 1017 yards and seven TDs last year.
The wildcard in this is Malik Benson. I know, I know, I know, it’s JUST training camp. Last year, Dont’e Thornton was the pre-season darling and he did pretty much nothing during the year.
There is a better chance Benson becomes Larry the Cable Guy before he becomes Larry Fitzgerald, but you can’t tell me it’s not possible. Puka, Amon-Ra and Diggs were all top 20 receivers last year and they were all drafted after pick 100.
From the little we’ve seen and the lot we’ve heard, it sounds like Benson is (at the very least) WAY better than many of the other 194 players who were drafted ahead of him.
And when it comes to the Raiders, I’ll take a win any way I can get it.