MidValleySports.Com

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…

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