Joe Torosian's Outsiders Sports

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

Rory Mcllroy, bogeys 18, but still holds off Scottie Scheffler to win his second consecutive Masters. And….

Naaah, I didn’t watch it.

For some reason, it was important to see the New York Mets get swept by the Sacramento A’s and drop their fifth straight.

Hopefully, the Mets can steal one tonight in The Ravine.

It is a Laker town, but give the Clippers credit for making the play-in bracket. They started 6-21, finished 42-40, and Kawhi Leonard appeared in 65 games.

(Clippers have 12 former first-round picks on their active roster: Nicolas Batum, Bradley Beal, Bogdan Bogdanovic, John Collins, Kris Dunn, Darius Garland, Isaiah Jackson, Kawhi Leonard, Brook Lopez, Benedict Mathurin, Yanic Niederhauser, and TyTy Washington Jr.)

I’m not an Angels fan, but who is this Jose Soriano? He’s averaging 28 points per outing for my fantasy team. He keeps this up through July, and I’ll become a serious fan-boy. He keeps it up through September, and I’ll make him my profile pic.

So in game 81, Victor Wembanyama scores 40, grabs 13, and dishes for five against the Dallas Mavericks, but in game 82 against the Denver Nuggets, he sits?

WNBA Draft tonight…I feel a responsibility to remind people of this…And I also think I’d go Lauren Betts before Azzi Fudd. Something about 6-7 being a little more effective than 5-11.

Speaking of drafts, the NFL Draft is coming, and the only thing the Rams could do to make me angry is to take a quarterback, tackle, or corner at #13. They can trade back, collect capital, and pick one of these positions, and I’d be cool. But spending #13 overall on a player unlikely to contribute in 2026 would definitely thin out the “all in” narrative.

The Miami Dolphins re-signed tight end Greg Dulcich in March to a one-year deal. It stood out to me because the last game I covered for The Mid was St. Francis High School in the 2017 CIF final. The standout receiver in that game was Dulcich.

Here’s a question…I have a memory of Coachella being one thing—like being more cowboy—and now it seems like something else…Am I wrong on this?

Of course, I also remember Cal Jam 2 differently than most.

After HC stops in Orlando, Boston, the Clippers, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee, it’s time for Doc Rivers to go to ESPN.

…And the Bucks to clean house.

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

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1 Corinthians 16:13-15
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
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By Joe Torosian

Kick it!
Do “City Connect” uniforms really connect with the city, or is it just another revenue stream?

The Rams having interest in bringing Jimmy Garoppolo back doesn’t exactly strike me as scoop.

I followed the Los Angeles Kings pretty close back in the day…but, on this day in 1982, after they fell behind the Edmonton Oilers 5-0…I walked away from the radio and missed the Miracle on Manchester.

“As The Russini & Vrabel Turns”—Full disclosure, I spent a season covering basketball and interviewed Paul Westhead countless times—but I never hung out with him by the pool or hugged him at sunset. (No matter what Scott Brooks may say.)

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

Mark Jones, an ESPN play-by-play guy since 1990, will broadcast his last game this Sunday…This is one guy I never thought of as old. In fact, he always looked like he had just gotten there the day before.

I heard how important UCLA’s national championship was for girls everywhere.

These days, is there ever a time when a women’s team wins a title that it’s not “important to young girls everywhere”…?

I’m told—”This is so important for young girls everywhere”—so much, I’m beginning to think it’s not important at all…but merely a mantra to be repeated to stay employed.

Middle of a long drive, podcast ends, and I put on terrestrial radio, and I hear the voice of Steve Hartman.

When sports talk radio was at its zenith, the home was “The Mighty 690.”
Hacksaw Hamilton and the Loose Cannons were as good as it got this side of Jim Healy.

Hartman hosted Loose Cannons, first with the legendary Chet Forte and then with ‘Philly’ Billy Werndl (“Hi-Ho Steverino!”)

Segments you’d never hear in 2026 were “The Jon Koncak Award” and “Stiff of the Day.”

(When “The Stiff of the Day” segment began, it started with this audio clip from “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”

“Wanted in fourteen counties of this state, the condemned is found guilty of murder, armed robbery of citizens, state banks, and post offices, the theft of sacred objects…kidnapping, extortion, receiving stolen goods, selling stolen goods, passing counterfeit money, and contrary to the laws of this state, the condemned is guilty of using marked cards…Therefore, we sentence the accused to hang by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on his soul. Proceed.”

The segment, which ran for years until groups complained it was too cruel/harsh/incorrect, hit on who was the worst in sports from the day before.)

Question to Lakers Fans: If he’s willing to take significantly less dough, and accept life as the third option…why wouldn’t you want to bring LeBron James back?

The Dude abides…
1,268
Revelation 3:7-8
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
Follow Joe on X: @joet13b

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

The NCAA is weighing changes to eligibility to allow five seasons and eliminate redshirt and injury years. I like the honesty of acknowledging what we know, the players already are.

Scholarships should be replaced with contracts. My only question is, after Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, what will the fifth season be called?

Fifth Year? Super Senior? Senior Citizen?

I only get emotional about God, family, and country…But I do embrace special memories. One of them was the first time I entered Chavez Ravine.

On August 4, 1975, the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 9-1. Willie Crawford homered, and so did Davey Lopes. He pulled the pitch into the Dodgers’ bullpen in left field.

Lopes was never my favorite Dodger, and I couldn’t wait for Steve Sax to replace him, but maturity and time proved to me he was the glue-guy for the team’s legendary infield.

What I find unacceptable is that so-called Dodger fans have no clue who Lopes was. I never saw Wes Parker, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, or Zach Wheat play…But I knew they were Dodgers.

Most teams these days—definitely those in Los Angeles—don’t have fanbases. Instead, they have a collection of experience seekers who will invest only as long as the experience has popular standing.

It’s not going to happen for a long time, but if the Dodgers were to take a tumble into extended mediocrity, these fans would abandon them.

History is critical… and, yes, history is the first thing Marxists remove. Always, always be leery of someone who disregards history and/or is eager to ignore it, and refuses to teach it.

We should not live in the past, but we cannot forget it.

How meaningless has the NBA Draft become? Did you know the Los Angeles Lakers have 11 former first-round draft picks on their roster?

(Deandre Ayton, Kobe Bufkin, Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, LeBron James, Luke Kennard, Dalton Knecht, Jake Laravia, Marcus Smart, Nick Smith Jr.)

With 65 games played, the benchmark for earning NBA honors, it would be good to look back at how some of the legends fared in an 82-game season.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in 20 seasons, played fewer than 74 games twice. In 1974-75, he played in 65 games after an injury. In 1977-78, he only played in 62 after breaking his hand on Kent Benson’s face in the opener.

Magic Johnson: Not counting an injury in his second season and comeback…The lowest season total was 67 in 1983-84, due to a broken finger.

Michael Jordan: Excluding his injury in his second year, comeback from baseball, and first season in Washington…never played less than 78 games.

Larry Bird, in his first nine seasons, never played fewer than 74 games. Injured in his tenth season and appearing in just six games, he came back the following year and played 75. In his last two seasons, he played 60 and 45 games, respectively, due to age and injury.

LeBron James played 65 games or more in 13 of his first 15 seasons.

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

Last Add Dodgers: Breaking News! The Dodgers lost yesterday. I didn’t know such a thing was possible.

The Dude abides…
1,267
Ephesians 1:18-21
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
Follow Joe on X: @joet13b

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

The fight in Anaheim last night might have been the most exciting thing to happen since Shohei was an Angel.

The Dodgers are rapidly ascending to a place where it will be safe to say, “Who is like the Dodgers? Who is able to make war with them?”

Another big crowd in Toronto, a nice effort by the Blue Jays, Edwin Diaz declares, ‘No soup,’ and the Dodgers win.

It’s gross.

Fernando Mendoza says he will not attend the NFL Draft, preferring to spend the evening with his family. Trevor Lawrence did the same thing in 2021. I think it’s cool—if it is Mendoza’s choice.

Not that it was ever going to be a problem for me, but I couldn’t imagine a worse feeling than arriving all dressed up, ready to go, and not having your name called.

Cringe. Definitely worse than being picked last in the schoolyard–when the schoolyard actually existed.

The first time I saw this happen, I was watching the 1988 NBA Draft…St. John’s forward, Shelton Jones, was sitting there when it started, surrounded by Danny Manning, Mitch Richmond, Hersey Hawkins…at the end of the night, he was all alone, probably thinking he should have stayed home.

(Note the Lakers took Notre Dame guard David Rivers with the 25th overall pick.)

Last Note Shelton Jones: He was the second pick in the second round, 27th overall, by the San Antonio Spurs. The 1988-1989 season was his only season in the league, although he played professionally through 2004.

Of course, I’m almost anti everything in the NBA, and I think—to borrow an expression from a local football dad—most of the players are softer than their mother’s love.

However, sitting LeBron in a game that you are sure to lose to OKC is not the worst of all decisions.

Since this could be LeBron’s last dance in Los Angeles, save him for the playoffs and hope Luca Doncic can get back in time for a competitive series or two. Austin Reaves timeline is four to six weeks, which could mean we’ll see him in October…maybe.

I didn’t even know Drew Timme played basketball anymore.

I wasn’t a fan of J.J. Reddick when the Lakers hired him. I don’t even know if I am now, but he’s done a solid job, and any NBA HC willing to call out a player is a marvelous outlier.

I don’t know if Russini & Vrabel is the story everyone wants it to be.

Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane was not present at the start of the team’s voluntary offseason program. It’s not that big of a deal for a running back–bigger deal for a quarterback.
The kid should be looking for a trade rather than signing away his best years to a franchise in rebuild.

Speaking of Miami, Marlins’ ace Sandy Alcantara will look better in Queens than in the ballpark, formerly known just as Dodger Stadium.

Question: If a curveball is called an “Uncle Charlie,” is a slider/sweeper called a “Cousin Chuck?”

Exciting days for my Los Angeles Rams podcast. Out of 188 Rams podcasts ranked…I came in at #189…So you’re telling me there’s a chance?

The Dude abides…
1,266
1 Corinthians 10:13
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
Follow Joe on X: @joet13b