Joe T., always working hard…
By Joe Torosian
Kick it!
USC punched its ticket to the NIT last night.
I’ve never been much of a Donovan Dent fan until now. Dude, looks different.
“I think it’s strange. At the end of the day you should want to develop your staff regardless of the color of their skin.”—Bears GM Ryan Poles on the Rooney Rule.This isn’t a hot topic because the Los Angeles Angels and Mike Trout haven’t made it one, but I have to ask…As I head out for Cactus League action next week, does anybody feel any pain or pity for Trout wasting away in Anaheim?
There’s always that one player who never made it to the big game, never won a title, who got our compassion because of a hard-luck career and attachment to a hard-luck franchise.
Ernie Banks with the Cubs, Archie Manning with the Saints. Even to some extent, Dan Marino not getting back to the Super Bowl or Don Mattingly getting to a World Series.
I’ve run out of grace for Trout. Great player, put him in Cooperstown, but he’s chosen Newport Beach over baseball immortality. And the choice makes it easy for us to emotionally move on.
Back in the day, commentators used to say about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “Hey, the big fella’s smiling again.”
Whatever. I never cared about Kareem smiling, and, politely put, the media covering the Lakers in those days viewed him as a bit of a douche.
But reading in “The Ten” yesterday that it was the anniversary of Jabbar reaching 36,000 points, made me think his career needs a re-evaluation and consideration for being the GOAT.
I’m always going to be a Magic Johnson guy, but Kareem, unfortunately, seems to be lost in the conversation as the greatest ever. The guy left the NBA after the 1989 Finals… which was the last time anyone saw a Sky Hook.
A little into the weeds, but how do the Ravens find a way to re-sign center Tyler Linderbaum—market value is 4-yrs/80-rocks/53-rocks guaranteed—and give Lamar Jackson a new contract, for more money? Jackson’s cap hit in 2026 and the year after is already at 74.5-Rocks…
Note to Linderbaum: If you want a chance to go to a Super Bowl, you need to sign with the Rams.
Next Add Rams: I don’t care about the Rams new uniforms or logos, but what gets my attention is Mel Kiper Jr.’s recent mock draft. He has the Rams taking:
#13—CB Jermod McCoy—Florida
#29—RT Monroe Freeling—Georgia
Too early for a corner and lazy having the Rams take a tackle 29th overall.
“Who the blank is Mel Kiper?”
Last Add Rams: At the right price, I’d consider bringing Bobby Wagner back for his 15th and final NFL season.
And what do you think about A.J. Brown coming to the Chargers?
The Dude abides…
1,236
Psalm 71:14
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
Follow Joe on X: @joet13b
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This talk about greatest of all time doesn’t mention that there’s no such thing as “all time.” As soon as you tell me when time began and when it ended, it’s a fact that there was time before and after those parameters. So to accurately phrase it, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest BB player of the last 60 years.
From Joe T.: I like Wilt–I actually got to see a little bit of Wilt…I only bring up Kareem because he seems to have receded from any discussion…LeBron’s been compared to Magic…Kobi was compared to Jordan…Rick Barry had some of Larry Bird’s game…Shaq even got Wilt comparisons…but–to this point (and correct me if I’m wrong)–there has been no one like Kareem….and with all that said…I’d still take Magic over all these guys. Thanks for the click.