Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 522
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Padres were on the verge of beating the Dodgers Sunday in San Diego. With the winning run on base in a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning Juston Upton hit a drive to deep centerfield. Within seconds the game would be over. Instead, Dodger rookie Joc Pederson raced back, somehow caught up with the ball and caught it. “The catch of the year in major league baseball,’ the announcer said. If Pederson hadn’t made that catch Bud Black would probably still be the Padre...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Okay, this season is over. The Golden State Warriors are champions – well deserved because they had the best regular season record with 67 wins and then proved in the playoffs they’re for real. Now let’s think about next season. Many teams who fell short will try to improve their rosters with trades, free agent signings and the upcoming draft. The first example came Tuesday when the Clippers made a trade that brought in Lance Stephenson, an outstanding defen...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Lakers have apparently lost a piece they were counting on to solve the puzzle created by compiling the worst record in their history. Kevin Love, the former UCLA star, says he’s going to remain with the Cleveland Cavaliers next season despite his inability to play in the current NBA Finals due to a shoulder injury. Love can opt out of his Cleveland contract and test the free agent market at the end of this month. The Lakers tried to acquire him when he l...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor There’s a suggestion going around on radio sports talk shows that LeBron James should play for a different NBA team every year to spread out the championships. It’s silly of course. He isn’t going to change teams every year. But considering that he will be participating in an NBA Final for the fifth consecutive year, three with Miami and two with Cleveland, which was horrid before he joined them, you get the point. Put him on any team and that team becomes elite....
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Because this newspaper is on the Westside we tend to care more about the local teams. More Dodgers coverage than Angels, for example. But it was different last year and it continues to be different this year because Angels telecasts draw three times as many viewers as Dodger telecasts. That’s what surveys show as 70 percent of the potential Southern California audience can’t get Dodger telecasts that are available only on Time Warner. It’s evident that a lot o...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor It was my first Dodger game of this season and on Sunday I knew I’d see many old friends in the press box. The first one to greet me was Vin Scully, who I’ve known For a lot of years. “It’s so good to see you, Mitch” he said. “Great to see you too Vin,” I said. “But, unfortunately I can’t hear you on the telecasts because I don’t have Time Warner Cable. “Neither do I,” he replied. Unbelievable, isn’t it? The legendary announcer, now in his 66th year describing...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor They blew it. There’s no denying that. The Clippers had an excellent chance to end 31 years of falling short but couldn’t hold a 19-point lead in the final quarter of Game 6 and then fell flat in Game 7. So the Houston Rockets advanced to the Western Conference playoff finals, a place where the Clippers have never been. The talk show guys have been running wild in the last few days. One even suggested the Clippers hang banners in Staples Center for winning the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When the Lakers moved up from their original No. 4 slot in the NBA draft lottery Tuesday to No. 2 Kobe Bryant made an observation. 'We played like crap this season so it's fitting that we moved up," he said. There's no assurance the Lakers' good fortune will trigger a major rise in the standings but it's the best news they've heard in awhile. Unless they decide otherwise the Lakers will get either Jahlil Okafor of Duke or Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky, the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The National Football League was far too lenient in punishing Ray Rice for domestic abuse. Commissioner Roger Goodell took a beating from the national press and admitted he had to do better. Well, folks, he did better this time. Coming down hard on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots was his way of saying, “yes, the NFL gets it.” Brady’s four-game ban will probably be reduced on appeal, most likely to two games, but at least the NFL won’t have to save face th...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor As the Houston Rockets begin play in the second round of the NBA playoffs I can’t help wondering what might have been for the Lakers. You see, Dwight Howard wasn’t ready to commit to the Lakers when he became a free agent but he decided to give it a try by signing a one-year contract. Unfortunately, Howard was quickly disenchanted with Coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense which didn’t revolve around a center. So he left and joined the Rockets. Fast forward to this seas...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor How surprising. The Clippers went to Houston with short rest, learned that Chris Paul couldn’t play and proceeded to win Game 1 of their second round playoff series. But I have something to say to Clipper fans. Don’t expect to win this series unless Paul can play at his usual high level. On Monday night Paul was held out due to a hamstring injury even though they reported that no serious damage had shown up in an MRI. What happened in the game was something I’v...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When an arbitrator ruled that Josh Hamilton would be entitled to his full 2015 salary from the Angels despite a relapse of cocaine addiction the club responded with harsh words. “From the moment Josh came here two years ago there’s been turbulence,” said Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto. Angels owner Arte Moreno said he couldn’t guarantee that Hamilton would play for the Angels again. On Monday, the Angels traded Hamilton back to the Texas Rangers, where h...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Clippers were dazzling in the first quarter of Game 5 Tuesday night. They raced to a 28-13 lead over the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center The Clippers have the reputation of possessing the best starting five in the NBA and were living up to the reputation. Then Coach Doc Rivers inserted three substitutes and the Spurs scored the next 16 points. From there the teams engaged in a dramatic, thrilling game that the Spurs won, 111-107....
(Editor’s Note: Three seasons ago, after the Lakers were swept out of the NBA playoffs in the first round a summary of their troubles was analyzed in part 1 of this series. I didn’t plan on a part 2 but readers asked for one. Now part 3 is required because the Lakers have just completed their worst season in franchise history, 21 wins, 61 losses) By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor I understand the reasoning. The Lakers were going to sacrifice this season in order to retain money to sign free age...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When Doc Rivers found out the Clippers would be playing the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in the first playoff round he asked ‘this is what we get for winning 14 of our last 15 games?” It was nothing personal. The Clippers were the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. The Spurs were No. 6. The No. 3 always plays the No. 6 in the first round. But it’s still unfortunate. This could easily be a conference championship matchup. Instead, one of these...
(Editor's Note: Three seasons ago, after the Lakers were swept out of the NBA playoffs in the first round a summary of their troubles was analyzed in part 1 of this series. I didn't plan on a part 2 but readers asked for one. Now part 3 is required because the Lakers have just completed their worst season in franchise history, 21 wins, 61 losses) By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor I understand the reasoning. The Lakers were going to sacrifice this season in order to retain money to sign free...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Major League baseball has announced it won’t investigate the Josh Hamilton case, and that means the Angels are stuck with his sizeable contract for this season. Recovering from a relapse of substance abuse, Hamilton probably won’t help the Angels much this season even though the Angels signed him for five years for $125 million which includes $23 million for this season. In all the years I’ve been a sportswriter I’ve seen teams often back their players, asking...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor John Wooden guided UCLA to 10 national championships and there’s a solid case that he’s the greatest coach in college basketball history. But if you’re a fan of Mike Krzyzewski your man is building a solid case too. When Duke defeated Wisconsin, 68-63 in the NCAA Championship game Monday night it was Krzyzewski’s fifth national championship in his record 12th appearance in the Final Four. And this was one of his best coaching jobs. Even with spectacular freshma...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor So many times during the Lakers' feat of winning 16 NBA championships I've been in the building, feeling the excitement, eager to do my work and being thankful I'm in the sportswriting profession. On Tuesday night those years came back to me as I watched the Golden State Warriors, who have the best record in this NBA season, outlast the Clippers, 110-106 before a raucous sellout crowd in Staples Center. The playoffs haven't started yet but you wouldn't know it ju...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When John Wooden was coaching 10 UCLA basketball teams to national championships there was no ESPN. Times have certainly changed. Now the schools best identified with the network rule college baskrtball. The conferences that have Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky etcetra have a big advantage in recruiting. High school stars want to be seen nationally, getting the exposure that will help them be recognized by NBA teams. That's the reality of the situation. Steve Alfo...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor UCLA’s loss to Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 last week was the final game for Chris Roberts, who has broadcast Bruin football and basketball for the last 23 years. Roberts recently announced he would retire after the Bruins conclude play in the NCAA Tournament....
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor How important are the results in spring training? The popular belief is the results aren’t very important since minor leaguers often replace major leaguers in the latter innings of most spring training games. But there’s an important test case coming up. You see, the World Series champion San Francisco Giants have been awful this spring in Arizona. They’ve lost constantly and their championship roster has changed a lot, first with the departure of third baseman P...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Lakers and New York Knicks are the richest franchises in the NBA, but this season they’re two of the worst teams. The Knicks arrived at Staples Center last Thursday with the least wins, only 12. The Lakers were the fourth worst with 17. The game was originally scheduled to be shown on national television but, as expected, was taken off the list. What happened was the Knicks won, 101-94 and Lakers coach Byron Scott called his team selfish. He also said the L...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Within a few days last week two well-known men from the local sports scene passed away. Last Friday death claimed Joe McDonnell, who covered sports for four decades, primarily on various radio stations. He was known as The Big Nasty and teamed with Doug Krikorian on an especially popular show. McDonnell lost considerable weight and seemed to be doing well. His death shocked many friends and ESPN radio had a two-hour tribute to him, hosted by Jeff Biggs. Haley, a...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor In recent years baseball officials have been concerned about surveys showing a decline in interest in their sport. Many fans apparently think games last too long. I've even heard a prognosis that in 10 years hockey will be doing better. As someone who has loved baseball through most of my life I find this hard to believe. But now baseball has made a dramatic change. I watched a televised exhibition game Thursday between the Angels and Milwaukee Brewers....
