Joe Torosian's Outsiders Sports

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

The Aaron Donald comeback story is boring.

I’m far more interested in the Rams’ Terrance Ferguson breaking out on offense than I am about Donald returning to a defense that is already Super Bowl-caliber.

Do present-day sports fans recognize the difference between rooting and belief…Meaning you can root for your team, but have doubts about them winning a title?

I’m trending that way as a Rams fan.

The Chargers can keep kidding themselves about Trey Lance and D.J. Uiagalelei, but Mac Jones is what you should be looking for in a backup quarterback.

Yes, I’d trade Stetson Bennett for him in a heartbeat.

Should we still be on the lookout for Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to break out heading into year three?

Does Harrison’s slow career start give you any doubts about Carnell Tate, who was taken #4 overall this year by the Titans, or current Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith?

Last night’s Indiana Fever-Dallas Wings game on Prime was set to feature Caitlin Clark versus Paige Bueckers. It was going to be this epic showdown between the two icons.

Apparently, Kelsey Mitchell (37 points) and Arike Ogunbowale (32 points) didn’t get that memo before the Wings’ 91-85 victory.

The two stars, Clark & Bueckers, combined for 23 points on 9-of 31 shooting.

Last Add QNBA: Wait, are you telling me Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese’s epic, stop the presses, breaking news, night of perfection came against the tanking Los Angeles Sparks?

The Dream taking the court on Thursday against the Sparks is akin to sending Walter Mondale out to face Ronald Reagan in November of ’84.

Speaking of wide receivers…what happened to those Jack Bech-Cooper Kupp comparisons?

A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts have hugged it out. If I were a Philadelphia Eagles fan, that doesn’t make me feel better.

Question: Do you take a football analyst/commentator/broadcaster/writer seriously when they rank Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson no lower than third when listing the NFL’s top QBs? Because I don’t.

As summer winds into September, and the U.S. Open looms, I can’t remember the last time I watched tennis. Do any of you still watch tennis?

It was part of the everyday sports conversation growing up. Could Ivan Lendl finally win at Wimbledon? Will Andre Agassi ever win a major? And Jimmy Connors at the Open, late in his career, was appointment television.

(I won’t even mention getting up early on a Saturday to watch “The War of 18-16.”—If you know, you know.)

Is interest the same in tennis, or has there been a radical change? Did the analytic nerds take over and kill the joy? It feels so much more niche these days and tucked into some forgotten corner next to lacrosse.

Can’t speak for the rest of the NFL, but former Rams quarterback Brett Rypien seems to be in midseason form with two fumbles (one lost) and a pick while leading the Houston Texans to a come-from-ahead, 22-20 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Mets are just ten games out of a Wild Card spot. Historic perspective: in 1969, they were ten back on August 14th before going 38-11 down the stretch, winning the East, beating the Braves in the NLCS, and whipping the Baltimore Orioles in five.

To keep it fair and balanced…The Detroit Tigers are 61-66 and just five games back in the A.L Central…and only 1.5 games out for the A.L.’s final wild card spot.

So, I’m telling you there’s a chance.

#98—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth…

Last Add Mets: It’s really a good thing they didn’t bring back Pete Alonso…his 2026 numbers of 29 home runs, 82 RBIs, and .360 OBP with the Orioles would have only made things worse.

The Dude abides…

1,345
James 5:19-20
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By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

Note to Mets: When Babylon falls, hire everybody in the Dodgers front office—on the baseball side.

The perspective prayer I’m offering up today… (Perspective prayer being a prayer in the perspective of sports only)…Please, let there be no injuries in the Saints-Rams scrimmage today.

I’m not worried about Saturday. Nobody critical will be playing Saturday…but key vets will get work in today for the Rams.

This isn’t a complaint about a woman being a strength and conditioning coach. As my reflection in the mirror testifies daily, I don’t know anything about the field.

John Harbaugh’s introductory speech to the New York Giants was considered cringe, but it was nothing compared to Colorado Buffaloes strength and conditioning coach Morgen Cote’s attempt at rah-rah. That was an absolute cringe nightmare—“Y’all!”

How upside down has the sports world become when college football players can sign NFL contracts…find out they don’t like their situation…and then go to court for the right to return to play college football?

Baltimore Ravens’ running back Derrick Henry, entering his 11th NFL season, has rushed for over a thousand yards seven times, two thousand yards once, and has accumulated 13,018 career rushing yards (10th all time).

If Henry replicates his performance last year of 1,595 yards for the next two seasons, that will add another 3,190 yards to his career total—making it: 16,208 yards.

That would still leave him third on the all-time list behind Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton.

Smith’s final total was 18,355. So, if Henry replicated his 2025 total for three straight years, he’d finish with 17,803 yards…and still be behind Emmitt.

Which raises the question: where do you rank Smith on your list of the greatest running backs? I seldom see him at the top.

I’m waiting for someone to tell me it’s fake news that the U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into MLB reporter/insider/wiseguy Jeff Passan for knowing about the Dodgers’ financial fraud…and possibly accepting payment for silence.

#97—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth…but if the present news trend continues, the Dodgers might get their first.

I realize this is so upsetting to Dodger fans that they might actually start firing ice into bathtubs.

Last Add Dodgers: Maybe the Houston Astros knew what was going on and decided that if the Dodgers are going to do it, they’d do it too.

Wow, Max Struss…Clips are all in.

Last Add Henry: Next closest active player to him is Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley with 8,356 yards (currently 44th all time).

You heard it here first: the Dallas Cowboys will upset the Eagles’ applecart. Why? Because Dak Prescott is the best quarterback in the NFC East.

The Dude abides…

1,344
Acts 4:12
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
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By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

The Buss family fight, while interesting to some, will play out and recede…The bigger story involving the Lakers sale is the Dodgers.

The Dodgers’ biggest problem isn’t Edwin Diaz and Kyle Tucker, but the possibility of much more on the legal front bearing down on Mark Walter. 

I asked last week; I’ll ask again: are Dodger fans worried?

Not a Dodger guy, but the Dodgers have shown how to get things done at all levels. I would hate to see Walter and the organization go down.

As a New York Mets fan, I might laugh and be very snarky toward the Dodger fans who torment me, but I do not want the Walter regime to collapse.

In professional sports, I love an evil empire—I need an evil empire otherwise it’s all about being nice.

As O.W. Shaddock once said, “I want some feelings! I want some blanking team spirit!”

And that feels like a rare thing in pro sports these days.

I’m trying to decide whether the permanent darkness hovering over the Los Angeles Chargers organization is generational or strictly on the Spanos family.

The Curse is real: Chargers center Tyler Biadasz—severe knee injury.

Biadasz was drafted in the fourth round of the 2020 draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He spent four years in Dallas and two in Washington before signing with the Bolts (3yrs/30-rocks/20 guaranteed) this offseason.

He’s appeared in 92 games, made 84 starts, and over six seasons he’s missed only nine games—just four since 2021.

And now he’s hurt.

Najee Harris spent four years with the Pittsburgh Steelers—without a quarterback—and ran for a thousand yards each season.

Came to the Chargers as a free agent in 2025, appeared in three games, and tore his Achilles. 

(By the way, they lost both of their elite starting tackles last season as well.)

Try to think of a franchise that has had more frontline starting quarterbacks in the last 60 years? Go back to the start of the AFL.

Jack Kemp took them to title games. John Hadl lit up the scoreboard throughout the ’60s. Dan Fouts is a Hall of Famer, and the forgotten Stan Humphries (“Show me your lightning bolt!”) took them to a Super Bowl.

They whiffed on Ryan Leaf, but did draft Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. Then—thanks to the cosmic stupidity of the Miami Dolphins—Justin Herbert was available to draft at #6 overall in 2020.

And yet they are always derailed.

Jim Harbaugh brings a lot of good mojo, but I do not think it is enough to counter all the bad Organizational/Spanos Mojo. Father Merrin and Father Karras need to be called in.

Final Chargers Question: If they returned to San Diego, would LA notice?

Last add Curse: Notice how I didn’t even mention Marlon McCree?

It’s not a new buzzword/phrase, but it’s being so overplayed…is anyone else getting tired of the expression, “stacking days”…? 

I’ve heard it more this summer than the equally jejune “next man up.”

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners 22-0 last night. It got so bad for Seattle they put Glenn Abbott (75) on the hill to finish the game.

#96—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth. 

For what it’s worth, Sunday’s Indiana Fever-Atlanta Dream game drew 2.6 million viewers. The second game of the doubleheader featuring the Portland Fire-Phoenix Mercury and the retirement of Diana Taurasi’s jersey had 1.4 million viewers.

I hate the QNBA so much, I watched two games last night. The competitiveness is addicting…the ball’s not always great, but it’s worth the watch.

For 85 bucks, you can purchase a seat in the Chase Center in San Francisco tonight to see the Minnesota Lynx (29-7) play the Golden State Valkyries (25-9). 

The Dude abides…

1,343
Isaiah 45:6
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
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Follow Joe on X: @joet13b

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

Ty Simpson was great, but heed the words of The Wolf. Unless someone offers a #1, Stetson Bennett will be the Rams’ QB2 in 2026.

But 2027 should be different.

Note to NFL: Stop with the chicks calling play-by-play…. It’s like asking a soprano to sing baritone…It does not work…. It’s stupid…

Von Miller goes to the Cowboys… good move for the Pokes. I’ve got them ahead of the Giants in the NFC East.

Last Add Cowboys: I’m sorry former guard John Niland passed away. I remember him being quotable and one of the first football cards I ever owned. But he was a Cowboy, so in that context, I hated him.

And just like that…Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love has a high ankle sprain.

The Indiana Fever’s victory over the Atlanta Dream yesterday was not great basketball, but it was great competition. This is a league, for now, where the regular season means more than the MLB’s.

The shot of Caitlin Clark laughing behind Angel Reese, after Reese clanked the game-winner yesterday, will live forever as the most organic, unscripted, ultimate troll in sports history.

Note to WNBA: Stop pushing Reese. She is not an elite player. Pushing her as if she is one is almost as bad as your inability to define what the “W” in WNBA stands for.

Maybe it should be called the QNBA—”Q” for questioning…?

Last Add ESPN: They have fired the wrong people. Sunday’s broadcast team, the analysts at the desk, were all worse than Reese.

A coach may see something in Reese and think a few tweaks could improve her game. But that ESPN crew demonstrated no integrity, minimal talent…and is actually making Reese’s burden even heavier.

When Reese has a breakdown, and everyone lectures the internet and culture for being so harsh, be sure to mention the QNBA and ESPN as the chief causes.

Is there a more hollow post-career laurel than induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame?

Mark Few, Doc Rivers, Amar’e Stoudemire…who did they have to pay to get in? These guys aren’t/weren’t bad, but hall of famers in the context of what Canton and Cooperstown require?

Other names in at Springfield, Mass include: Rick Adelman, Carmelo Anthony, Zelmo Beaty, Sergei Belov, John Chaney, and, I hate to say it…Michael Cooper?

(I haven’t even mentioned the more ridiculous names and teams that have found their way in…Although, Belov is pretty ridiculous.)

The NBA needs its own Hall of Fame.

Tommy John was 13-3 when he blew out his arm in 1974. And for the next year and a half, I heard about Tommy John, how great he was, and his comeback. Not knowing baseball, I thought John was the equivalent of Sandy Koufax.

By 1976, I understood more. He wasn’t Koufax, but he was special–although I’ve always thought his career was a bit of a tragedy.

He missed the postseason in 1974. Was with the Dodgers in the back-to-back World Series losses to the Yankees. He signed with the Yankees in 1979 and had back-to-back 20-win seasons.

But the Yankees fall apart in ’79, the year Thurman Munson died, and then they got worked by the Royals in the 1980 playoffs. Then, in 1981, John is yanked—a bit early—in Game Six of the series the Dodgers won in New York. (God Bless Burt Hooton!)

In 1982, John’s with the Angels. The Halos go up 2-0 against the Brewers in the ALCS…and then “The Gene Mauch Effect” sets in and the Angels get swept in Milwaukee.

That’s tragedy capital “T.”

Last Add John: There are multiple reasons he should be in the Hall of Fame…and it should have happened a long time ago.

Really Last Add John: John is also a terrible reminder/example of how utterly dense baseball has become when it comes to pitching.

In 1987, at 44, John threw three complete games. In seven seasons, the Dodgers’ Tarik Skubal has one complete game.

Is St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Joshua Báez legit, or is he the second coming of Keith McDonald? If you’re a Cardinals fan—You should know.

I want to write off the Dodgers in 2026, but in my ongoing bitterness I’ve written them off so many times before.  Although I’m all for the fall of Babylon, I just can’t now.

#94—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth. The Dude abides…

1,341
Matthew 14:22-33
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
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By Joe Torosian

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

Jayden Daniels and his handlers have decided to go to war with LSU over the use of his name/image/likeness.

Daniels is upset because his #5 jersey was issued to another player. Now, it’s a battle.

LSU hasn’t issued Joe Burrow’s #9 to anyone since he won the Heisman…so I understand the hurt feelings…But Heaven’s gates, and Hell’s flames, Daniels, you’re the starting quarterback of the Washington TaxSkins! Stay focused.

Heard a comment today on Matthew Stafford’s injury history. In his second season, 2010, Stafford played in only three games. He didn’t miss another game for eight years. 

In 2019, Stafford played in eight games, and in 2022, as a result of the Rams’ offensive line chainsaw massacre, he appeared in only nine.

In 2023, he played in 15 games; in 2024, 16 games; and in 2025, 17 games. This doesn’t mean he’s immune to injury, but he certainly isn’t Joe Burrow.

Last Add Stafford: He’s played in 239 of a possible 277 games. In just six seasons, Burrow has already missed 20 games. 

I’ll say it again, I love the NFL pre-season… It’s about expectations. I don’t expect to see great football or a great game.

What I’m seeing is guys for the dream they’ve had since they first started playing pass and catch in the street. I love seeing who’s in the Practice Squad pipeline.

And I always enjoy saying, “Oh, that’s what happened to that guy.”

I’ve never spoken to a specialist on this…but thinking of Russell Westbrook and his 18 NBA seasons, 19 years counting UCLA, of being in the basketball conversation…How can someone play…commit all that time/energy/effort and not be a competent outside shooter?

I’m not slamming Westbrook’s career, but what chip are you missing that you can’t integrate competent into your game?

I’m not saying everyone has to shoot like Barry, Bird, or Steph…but only to shoot well enough where teams pay a price for cheating on you.

I can shoot the ball. I haven’t played in years, and I know I could go onto a court and have a more than a reasonable chance of hitting a 20-footer (25!) from the top of the key.

My basketball problem was too short, too slow, too unathletic, and being all earth. (Also grades, if I want to give all the reasons)

But I could shoot.

When you’re an NBA player, you’ve got one job…how can you not shoot?

Last Add Basketball: How long until somebody in the WNBA gets Tomjanovich’d?

The MLB brought back the “Field of Dreams” game…whatever…

Question: Is Tampa Bay, currently riding a nine-game winning streak, peaking too soon? When is the right time to peak in the MLB? Now? Late August? September?

#92—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth. 

Last Add Patrick Mahomes: The Kansas City Chiefs won two Super Bowls with Isiah Pacheco, a seventh-round pick, as its lead back. A competent running back can be found, but in a passing league even the best quarterback needs a number one receiver. KC is failing Mahomes.

And that’s why I like the Bolts and Broncos in the AFC West.

The Dude abides…

1,339
Ephesians 6:12
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
“RamView” M-W-F