Los Angeles

Since 1996, "tradition" in Los Angeles soccer has been defined by the LA Galaxy. The team has won five Major League Soccer Cups and served as a landing spot for world-class footballers—notably high-priced, big-name European superstars in the twilight of their careers, like David Beckham. Last week, the team made headlines for signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the massively talented, hyper-confident former Manchester United star from Sweden. This is what the Galaxy do: They buy the best to win. The team is the MLS equivalent of the "evil empire," more Yankees and Lakers than Mets and Clippers—all champagne and expensive silverware.

But there is a less heralded soccer tradition, one that, for the last four years, has drifted in the background of the cacophonous Los Angeles sports landscape: a blue-collar fan culture that aligns with the underdog. These fans—many of whom have been the orphaned sons and daughters of the dearly departed Chivas USA—have grown accustomed to losing but have found other reasons to love their team.

This season, the two traditions of L.A. soccer will converge, now that the underdogs finally have a team to call their own: Los Angeles Football Club. LAFC has flown into the City of Angels on the wings of a multimillion dollar marketing campaign and a state-of-the-art, $350 million stadium. Its ownership—fronted by luminaries like Warriors part-owner Peter Guber, Magic Johnson and Will Ferrell—has made forging a lasting connection to the city's young, diverse working class the cornerstone of its outreach efforts. But the question remains: Can LAFC's inclusiveness, whether just a marketing gimmick or not, win over the Galaxy's town, or will the city reject what could be the makings of a football renaissance?

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On a dreary morning before Los Angeles Football Club's first regular-season MLS game, fans—parents pushing strollers, expectant wee-hours drinkers and assorted revelers—queued up in front of the Barney's Beanery in Terminal 2 at LAX International Airport. The area around the restaurant had been cordoned off; only LAFC supporters were allowed inside. Signage sprinkled around the terminal had steered them here. But so did the prospect of experiencing soccer euphoria. In less than 31 hours, the 150 or so fans would travel to Seattle for LAFC's first match against the Sounders.

Among the faithful were Jerry Jimenez and his wife, Nidia. They arrived decked out in the team's black and gold road jerseys and were brimming with the kind of excitement that belies the early hour of the day. "Here, we feel like we're at home," Jerry said. They brought their two-year-old son up from San Diego, where they live.

Jerry has been a Los Angeles soccer fan for years—just not of LAFC. First, he was a Galaxy fan; but soon he switched to Chivas USA, an offshoot of his favorite team, Chivas Guadalajara, a Liga MX team that plays in Mexico. "Something in my gut didn't feel right," Jerry recalled. "It was like, 'ugh.' I see that crest and it means something to me because I grew up seeing that crest and I thought, 'I'm on the wrong side.'" Upon switching to Chivas, he joined Black Army 1850, a grassroots local fan group that took its inspiration from the Ultras of Europe and South America.

But then, in 2014, Chivas USA folded, leaving Jerry—and the Black Army—without a team. When, three days later, MLS announced that a new ownership group led by a group of high-profile investors would bring a new franchise to Los Angeles, Jerry co-signed the effort. "We figured, 'Hey, this is a clean slate,'" he said. "'Let's keep pushing what we've always been pushing: to have a club in the City of Angels that represents us.' [The Black Army] crest"—two interlocking white hammers over a black background—"represents the two hammers of the working class. That's what we've always wanted from the beginning, something related to the city: Chivas Los Angeles instead of Chivas USA."

Los Angeles is sprawling and suburban and has a large Latino population. According to the 2010 United States Census, 48.5 percent of the city is made up of people of Hispanic descent. Soccer is more than entertainment to many of them. It is a heritage and a way of life. With Chivas USA, MLS made a concerted effort to court this massive potential fanbase. The Galaxy and LAFC both hope to capture the imagination of city's dominant culture.

The city's two teams have taken different approaches to market their respective franchises. StubHub Center's location in the L.A. suburb of Carson makes it more appealing to fans on the outskirts of the city. The Galaxy's marketing plan and atmosphere—from cuddly mascot Cozmo to its bright, cheerful team color scheme—is made for families in the way that a minor league baseball game might be sold to casual audiences. It has also made its case visually: Los Angeles is littered with billboards promoting the Galaxy's legacy, some declaring in both English and Spanish that the team has been "lifting trophies since '96."

LAFC has aligned itself more with fan groups like the Black Army and has focused on building ground support through community service and charity. Nomar Garciaparra, the former Red Sox and Dodgers superstar who now serves as a part-owner of LAFC, said that from the beginning, the ownership expressed a desire to become a part of the firmament of the city. "The funny thing is, I am one of them," he says of LAFC's supporters. "I grew up in L.A. I grew up in the small little city [Whittier] outside of that. Going from there to now being on the ownership side, I looked at them and say, 'Hey, I'm one of you, and here we are together.'"

Tom Penn, the president and co-owner of LAFC, told me that the team's ownership group made capitalizing on organic support one of the early tenants of its marketing campaign. "At the time [of the club's founding], we weren't going to play for three years. So, everybody said, 'What did you have to offer them?'" he said. "What we had to offer them was, you guys are with us from the beginning. Your fingerprints are on every decision, and you can tell your kids and your grandkids, 'You built this club with us.'"

That grassroots campaign seems to have worked. LAFC has sold out all of its 17,500 season tickets—"memberships," as it calls them—for their inaugural season. By contrast, according to the Los Angeles Times, Galaxy season ticket sales are down nearly 20 percent from last year for a total of 9,500.

Chris Klein, the president of the LA Galaxy who played in L.A. during the Beckham era, had his own theory about the numbers. "With anything new, there's intrigue and people wondering what it's going to be," he said. Klein seemed excited about where MLS is going. "The way that you're going to build your club—which I believe is one of the more exciting things about how our league is evolving—is our clubs have their own identity. What works in Atlanta or Minnesota is different than L.A. or New York. I don't think you're going to see one model that everyone sticks by."

He added that he didn't think L.A. having two teams is bad for business: "Having Chivas fail or any club in our league fail is not good for anyone."

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The quality of play in MLS has been a sore spot for many fans in this country and, while it has improved since 1996, it still lags behind top leagues like the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga. That doesn't mean games are boring to watch in person: There are the beer-soaked celebrations, the pre- and postgame meetups, the tradition—popularized by Sounders FC—of the supporters' song-filled march to the stadium and the general sense of shared purpose.

But television ratings are another story: MLS has struggled to get the energy of its live experience to translate to tiny screens inside people's homes. The 2017 MLS Cup final drew only 803,000 American viewers when it aired on ESPN in December. That's down from 1.4 million who watched on the Fox broadcast network the year before.

Locally, the LA Galaxy have benefited from a 10-year, $55 million deal with Spectrum SportsNet to broadcast its games in the city. But the team only drew an average of 9,000 viewers a game on the SportsNet cable channel, according to the Los Angeles Times—not quite the rapid growth you might expect from a league that touts its fanbase as the future of American sports consumers.

LAFC, for its part, has looked to younger, city-dwelling Angelinos to build a following. The tactic is similar to that employed by teams in MLS markets such as Seattle, Portland and Atlanta. In those cities, stadiums are centrally located and easily accessible by public transportation or walking. LAFC has gone new-age with its broadcast rights strategy, too; in late January 2018, it inked a deal with YouTube to be the exclusive local carrier of LAFC matches. (The video-sharing service is the team's first jersey sponsor.) Whether the broad reach of the internet can help LAFC avoid the ratings challenges of MLS is anybody's guess. Then again, if MLS is truly the American sports league of the future, there might be another lane for it to thrive. Maybe the future of football doesn't exist on television anyway.

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Banc of California Stadium is a towering, open-air structure that sits on the southeast side of Exposition Park, off Figueroa. It features fancy restaurants, bicycle parking and a nearly 7,000-square-foot sunset deck so fans can takes full advantage of the relentlessly sunny L.A. weather. (There's a pool, too.) The downtown skyline looms in the background. The field is reminiscent of the grand football grounds of Europe. With a capacity of 22,000 fans, it's far smaller than the average first division soccer stadium. But there's a safe standing rail seating section—the first in North America—so fans can remain on their feet for the full 90 minutes, if they so choose.

The stadium is the realization of a decades-long trend in the city's history of urban planning policy. It replaced the aging Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena downtown—one of the few remaining connections to the classic mid-century architecture that the L.A. area was known for. It also crystallized the rapid change of the Exposition Park neighborhood, and the nearby USC campus, which have undergone a tremendous 21st century revitalization in recent years: the stadium, a renovation of the Coliseum, and a new $1.5 billion museum endowed by filmmaker George Lucas. (There could be even more new construction soon thanks to the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics.)

For LAFC's ownership group, Banc of California connects the team to the neighborhood's past. "I think the location, where we're located, is integral—by the iconic Coliseum," Garciaparra said. "We have the history of the L.A. Sports Arena, knocking that down and building the new, modern stadium as well." Ownership hopes that the stadium will go a long way in attracting LAFC's legion of followers—many of whom live in the heavily populated Hispanic neighborhoods of South L.A.—when it opens on April 29. In the meantime, the team will have to find other ways to entertain fans on the road.

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When they arrived in Seattle on a damp evening under a gray-colored sky, LAFC supporters made their way to the Owl N' Thistle Pub not far from CenturyLink Field. The Black Army took over a back room and turned all the TVs to a Chivas Guadalajara/Club America Liga MX match. The melody of traditional Chivas songs echoed throughout the bar, sung in Spanish with the inelegant, throaty voices of the sufficiently inebriated.

One English fan, an actor and comedian who goes by the name "Gary Gold," caught my attention. He had feathered blond hair and wore a track jacket with a necklace—the kind one might associate with a flashy English footballer. Gold has become something of an unofficial mascot for the new club in recent years, largely because of his online persona—a fabulously successful Beckham-esque designated player from England that LAFC simply refuses to sign.

I asked Gold why he chose to hitch his nascent comedy career to LAFC rather than the Galaxy. He requested that he be allowed to conduct our interview in character. "It seems like LA Galaxy are pretty happy being a bit of a retirement home," he answered.

The next day, LAFC fans gathered at Pyramid Ale House before the Seattle match and were surprised by a visit from the team's owners. The crammed bar was filled with the kind of exuberance that makes for quite a commercial for the product—sons and daughters and mothers and fathers sharing stories, clinking glasses and praying for a win. The owners, eager to capture a bit of that magic for themselves, pulled up to the bar on a lavish bus, and the comedian Ferrell jumped out to mix it up with the supporters and revel in a "Will Ferrell" chant.

It's not every day that an owner—or a mega-celebrity—mixes it up with fans. But LAFC's supporters are used to it. Julian Sperling, who hails from La Habra Heights, California, and is a member of the Black Army, has met with members of the front office before. They pitched him on the club and, he admitted, their message appealed to him. "They were talking about [how] a team based in Los Angeles can encompass and exemplify the community itself," Sperling said.

The club, and a handful of other LAFC fan groups, have been involved in much of the decision-making related to the expansion team's culture—from the team colors to the amenities in the stadium. Jerry and Nidia were both present at the first meeting between the team's front office and Gensler, the architecture firm that designed Banc of California Stadium.

Nidia was pregnant with Diego at the time, and the first people they broke the news of his impending birth to were their fellow fans in that Gensler meeting. "For us, it was a very special moment, because it felt like this is all coming together for us," Jerry said. "And now, we're building a legacy with our child that's coming into this. Now, he's almost two. He's been through this whole process with us."

As a way to commemorate their son's ties to the club and stadium, they signed a bit of concrete in a special section of the stadium during the initial build last year and added his handprint. "It's no longer just the team," Jerry said, tearing up. "Now, it's more about what Diego is going to get out of this. We're building something within our family that's going to be a tradition."

He continued: "It's the connection with people. … It's the connection with the club and the people that are a part of the club. We all feel a part of it here. That's where there's the differentiating factor between the Galaxy and here. If you look around, there's a lot of people here. I think they get that feeling as well, where we feel a part of this club more so than we ever have and a part of the city as well." 

LOS ANGELES — It had effort, intensity and a replay review—a botched one, at that. It had 28 free throws, 26 fouls and, yes, complaining to the referees.

It came down to the last possession and ended on, of all things, a defensive stop.

So basically it was like a real, live NBA contest, which is all anybody ever wanted out of the All-Star Game.

#TeamLeBron with the clutch defense to win the #NBAAllStar Game!!!

🔒🔒🔒 pic.twitter.com/UbR29OdIDi

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 19, 2018

As he had done twice before, LeBron James emerged as the All-Star MVP on Sunday night. But this time was different—and better—than anything we'd seen in the league's signature midseason event for years.

James' former teammate, Kyrie Irving, summed it up best.

"This was pretty fun," Irving said after Team LeBron defeated Team Stephen 148-145 in an All-Star Game that refocused the eyes of the world on what the NBA is actually about.

Basketball.

"The game was so good…one of the best I've been a part of," said Kevin Durant, James' teammate on this night—and his partner in crime in double-teaming and harassing Stephen Curry into giving up the ball in the closing seconds.

"Two tall giants out there, not letting me shoot," Curry said.

His team trailing by three out of a timeout with 10.7 seconds left, Curry had no option but to pass into the corner to DeMar DeRozan, who wasn't able to get off a shot before the buzzer with Durant's 7-foot wingspan looming over him. James took off down the floor, bellowing with delight and spreading his wings as though he'd just won another championship.

It wasn't a sequence of events you'd normally see in an All-Star Game, especially in recent years, when the event had deteriorated into an unwatchable bore-fest with no effort, no defense and little respect for the game.

"The new format just gave us an opportunity to hit the reset button," Curry said. "We were able to take ownership of the game and understand there's a way to up the level of competition and intensity a little bit, protect each other and avoid injuries, put on a great show and have an actual game—not just an up-and-down, pseudo dunk contest."

To be sure, this was much closer to what everyone wanted (and needed) this game to be. This is why nine-time All-Star and National Basketball Players Association President Chris Paul called Commissioner Adam Silver after last year's 192-182 debacle in New Orleans and said, "We have to fix this."

Whether it was the new format—with top vote-getters and team captains James and Curry choosing sides, instead of the stale, by-the-book East vs. West—or simply a matter of effort and pride, consider it fixed.

"I think that having the captains selecting the sides and being able to mix them up gave it a more authentic feel of what we, as players, want to be a part of in an All-Star Game," Irving said.

You knew something was different almost from the opening tip, with James called for a reach-in foul on Joel Embiid's drive to the basket on the second possession of the game. The first half ended with James and Irving full-court-trapping James Harden, and then Klay Thompson, resulting in consecutive turnovers.

In the fourth, James found himself at the scorer's table, vehemently protesting a replay review—yes, a replay review—when the ball had bounced out of bounds off Embiid's leg but was awarded to Team Stephen, anyway.

"I think myself and Steph, we took it upon ourselves when we decided to do this format that we had to change the landscape of how the All-Star Game was played," said James, his voice understandably raspy after his 29-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist, five-alarm fire performance. "As you can hear in my voice, it was competitive."

Much to the delight of his coach, Dwane Casey, who saw the bigger picture—the one that millions of people were seeing on TV.

"We're shining a light around the world as far as basketball is concerned," Casey said. "AAU coaches, high school coaches, coaches in Italy all looking at our game and saying, 'Hey, no disrespect to the Harlem Globetrotters, but that's not a good narrative.' … We've put in too much time and effort to lose the image that we've built up."

This All-Star Weekend in L.A. will be remembered for several reasons, most of them good. The links between basketball, music and entertainment were on full display. (Kevin Hart's hokey player introductions and Fergie's butchering of "The Star-Spangled Banner" notwithstanding.)

A small group of players and referees sat across the table from one another at a downtown hotel Saturday morning and hashed out their differences, an important first step that could help end the scourge of constant bickering and incivility among the only 13 people who are allowed on the court during a basketball game.

From James to Durant and Curry, the biggest stars of the sport used their platform to speak loudly and poignantly on social issues facing real people in this country every day.

Whatever your political point of view, James' impassioned soliloquy about gun violence and gun control at media day Saturday spoke to the power of his voice and his growing confidence to use it. If that doesn't separate him from Michael Jordan—who was famously apolitical when he reigned supreme as the greatest basketball player on Earth—then I don't know if anything ever will.

It is these kinds of larger-than-life personalities who have always made the NBA unique—an ecosystem of viewpoints, voices and variety. On Sunday night in Los Angeles, 24 of them reminded everyone there's something else that's important, too—something for which they serve as caretakers, and something worth protecting.

The game.

   

Ken Berger covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @KBergNBA. 

With the Super Bowl over, the NFL's landscape is all about player personnel changes, and the draft is the offseason's premier event in that capacity.

Like the rest of this offseason, quarterbacks are all the rage in the 2018 NFL draft. Numerous teams have serious question marks at the sport's most important position, including several with top 10 picks. With a few top signal-callers available, there will be plenty of clamoring at the top of the draft.

The first-round draft order is certain to change thanks to said demand. Also, the Kirk Cousins factor—and possibly Tyrod Taylor, for that matter—could change plans. But familiar names should still come off of the board early.

                   

2018 NFL Mock Draft

1. Cleveland Browns: QB Josh Rosen, UCLA

2. New York Giants: QB Sam Darnold, USC

3. Indianapolis Colts: DE Bradley Chubb, NC State

4. Cleveland Browns (via Houston): OG Quenton Nelson, Notre Dame

5. Denver Broncos: OT Mike McGlinchey, Notre Dame

6. New York Jets: QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: DB Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama

8. Chicago Bears: WR Calvin Ridley, Alabama

*9. Oakland Raiders: LB Roquan Smith, Georgia

*10: San Francisco 49ers: WR Courtland Sutton, SMU

11. Miami Dolphins: RB Saquon Barkley, Penn State

12. Cincinnati Bengals: OL Isaiah Wynn, Georgia

13. Washington Redskins: LB Tremaine Edmunds, Virginia Tech

14. Green Bay Packers: CB Josh Jackson, Iowa

15. Arizona Cardinals: QB Josh Allen, Wyoming

16. Baltimore Ravens: WR James Washington, Oklahoma State

17. Los Angeles Chargers: LB Rashaan Evans, Alabama

18. Seattle Seahawks: OT Orlando Brown, Oklahoma

19. Dallas Cowboys: CB Denzel Ward, Ohio State

20. Detroit Lions: OG Will Hernandez, UTEP

21. Buffalo Bills: WR Christian Kirk, Texas A&M

22. Buffalo Bills (via Kansas City): OG Billy Price, Ohio State

23. Los Angeles Rams: S Derwin James, Florida State

24. Carolina Panthers: CB Carlton Davis, Auburn

25. Tennessee Titans: DE Marcus Davenport, UTSA

26. Atlanta Falcons: DT Da'Ron Payne, Alabama

27. New Orleans Saints: DT Vita Vea, Washington

28. Pittsburgh Steelers: DE Harold Landry, Boston College

29. Jacksonville Jaguars: QB Lamar Jackson, Louisville

30. Minnesota Vikings: OT Connor Williams, Texas

31. New England Patriots: DE Arden Key, LSU

32. Philadelphia Eagles: DT Maurice Hurst, Michigan

*A coin-flip will be held to determine the No. 9 and No. 10 picks.

              

Familiar Scenario at No. 1 and No. 2

An NFL cliche will always ring true: It is a quarterback-driven league.

Thus, when multiple signal-callers are considered top-five talents, teams will always jockey at the top of the draft to select their quarterback. There is a reason quarterbacks have gone first and second overall in two of the past three years and three times since 2012, when Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III broke on to the scene.

With Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen all garnering serious attention as potential high first-round picks, the stage is set for two quarterback-hungry franchises to find themselves following the recent trend.

The Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants are both inclined to take a quarterback at their draft slots. The Browns' disastrous quarterback history is well-documented, as Johnny Manziel was the last Cleveland player to win a game on a Sunday under center, which came way back on Dec. 13, 2015.

They passed on Carson Wentz in 2016 and then on Deshaun Watson last year, so would they trade back a third time?

According to ESPN 850 in Cleveland's Nathan Zegura, there would be only one reason to take this route again:

I could be wrong, but I don’t think there is any qb out there other than Kirk Cousins who would make the browns even consider not taking a QB at 1.

— Nathan Zegura (@NathanZegura) February 15, 2018

If Cleveland were to snag Cousins, they could either trade back or select two top-end players to position around him. For now, though, expect them to go with Rosen, who is still the most complete quarterback in the draft given his arm talent and toughness in the pocket. He was sacked 54 times over the past three years, which means he is not afraid to take a hit.

Want to talk about resiliency? Rosen has exhibited that too, as arguably no other quarterback could have led the incredible comeback he did to open the year against Texas A&M:

As for No. 2, there is a bit more volatility.

The Giants should be looking for a quarterback given the disaster that took place last season but have no need to be married to taking one with Eli Manning still under contract for the next two years. They could trade back and aim to rebuild one of the worst offensive lines in football, which would not be a bad decision.

Either way, any team that would be willing pay the price of moving up to No. 2 overall would likely only be doing so to draft a quarterback, which makes the one-and-two overall scenario more certain. Darnold is the best choice at No. 2 simply because of his accuracy.

No other quarterback can fit a ball into a tight window like Darnold, but he does need to improve his decision-making after tossing 13 picks a year ago. Yet more interceptions are to be expected given he threw the ball 114 more times as a sophomore compared to his freshman season. NFL Network's Charley Casserly broke down further what makes Darnold so good:

Why I rate Sam Darnold @USC_Athletics over Josh Rosen @UCLAFootball @Browns @Giants @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/JhY5K8jwEt

— Charley Casserly (@CharleyCasserly) February 15, 2018

Allen or Mayfield could easily break into this group, but it looks destined to be another draft with two quarterbacks taken at the top.

                  

Don't Forget About the Receivers

Lost in the hoopla over the quarterbacks is that 2018's wide receiver class has the potential to approach the level of the vaunted 2014 group that included Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans, Jarvis Landry and more.

At the top is the clear best possession receiver in the class: Calvin Ridley. 

As a freshman, Ridley wasted no time ascending to Alabama's No. 1 receiver role, logging a whopping 89 catches for 1,045 yards and seven touchdowns. Even with a drop in downfield passing ability in the Crimson Tide offense, Ridley still amassed 135 catches over the past two seasons. The guy simply gets open, and 105. 3 The Fan in Dallas' Jeff Cavanaugh noted the Alabama product's ability to do so in critical downs:

Playing around with creating a little receiver chart. 3rd down catches this year:

Michael Gallup - 23
DJ Moore - 19
Calvin Ridley - 17
Courtland Sutton - 13
Anthony Miller - 12
James Washington - 7

— Jeff Cavanaugh (@timeforjeffrey) February 11, 2018

Ridley is similar to Larry Fitzgerald in that he is an elite security blanket. He makes the catches his team needs him to make, and he can also make plays downfield thanks to his top-end route running. He would be a perfect fit for the Chicago Bears, with whom he would be alongside a developing quarterback like Mitchell Trubisky, whose top receiver last year was Kendall Wright with a mere 614 yards.

Courtland Sutton also has superstar potential thanks to his scary combination of being 6'4" and having downfield speed to burn. Over the past two years, Sutton racked up just under 2,500 yards to go with 144 receptions and 22 touchdowns for SMU.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo could use some help earning that gargantuan contract considering his top target was Marquise Goodwin, with 962 yards, followed by George Kittle and Pierre Garcon, who each totaled a little more than 500 yards.

Goodwin had never eclipsed 500 yards in his career until last year, which throws doubt on his reliability as a No. 1 receiver. Sutton would fit in as an immediate force on the outside who could compete with NFL-sized defensive backs. If he can realize his immense upside, then look out.

As for the other two receivers to land in this first-round mock draft, it is all about speed.

James Washington could be looked at as a one-trick pony given his frequency to score on deep throws and the 20 yards per catch he posted over the past three seasons. However, his burst off of the line and ability to get open are underrated. Pro Football Focus' Steve Palazzolo noted that no other receiver was better in tight coverage a year ago:

Oklahoma State WR James Washington led the nation with 17.2 yards/attempt when facing press coverage, best in the nation.

Best WR vs. press at the @seniorbowl in PFF 1-on-1 grading#PFFDraft

— Steve Palazzolo (@StevePalazzolo_) February 15, 2018

This opens the window for Washington to dominate underneath in loose coverage, making him a dynamic weapon. At worst, Washington will be a Mike Wallace-type player in the NFL, but his ceiling makes him a terror for opposing defenses, as they would pretty much always need to send help to account for his speed.

Finally, Christian Kirk may end up being the best offensive value pick in the draft.

Kirk can contribute anywhere. Need a security blanket underneath? How about Kirk's 229 catches during his three years at Texas A&M. Explosive plays? Kirk was among the most dynamic threats in the SEC during his college career, and he racked up 26 touchdowns in the process. Special teams? Kirk averaged a ridiculous 22 yards per return on punts and scored six times in his career, including his first return, via KAGS in College Station's Colin Deaver:

My lasting image of @ChristianDavon2 at Texas A&M: his first game as an Aggie, housing the first punt he ever received against his hometown Arizona State Sun Devils. Kirk was the real deal from day 1. #12thMan pic.twitter.com/vYeVn9OIrA

— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaver_) January 2, 2018

Oh, and he also brought a kick back for a touchdown as an Aggie.

Kirk offers instant offense, and his route running is good enough to allow him to be a playmaker on third down. Putting him alongside a possession receiver like Jordan Matthews with the Buffalo Bills would be a great fit for a team that lacked explosiveness in the return game—ranking 24th in punt return yards and 17th in kick-return yardage—along with any downfield threat.

Expect this class to make some noise next season, and look for it to appear even better three years down the road.

                      

Statistics are courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted. 

No matter what happens in Super Bowl LII between the mighty New England Patriots and the scrappy Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday will be a bad day for Marcus Morris. You see, Morris is a Philly fan adrift in a sea of New England fervor—a critical Celtics frontcourt player with diehard loyalty to his hometown football team. If the Eagles lose, it's another indignity for a hard-luck sports town without a Super Bowl victory on its resume. If they win, Morris will hear about it from Pats fans at the TD Garden until at least mid-August.

"I think that if the Patriots win, they won again," Morris told Bleacher Report recently. "If the Eagles win...you know what I'm sayin', it's mayhem."

Such is the dilemma of the professional athlete. With social media giving sports fans a tantalizing peek into the inner workings of their favorite players, it's more and more common for those stars to ingratiate themselves to the local fans by stanning hard for teams in the other three major sports.

Ben Simmons, the Australian-born Sixers star, has suddenly become an Eagles fan during this run to the Super Bowl, asking the team to "bring it home" before the NFC Championship Game. Philadelphia has only been "home" for Ben Simmons for a couple years, but he's tweeting like radioactive yellow cheesesteak sauce runs through his veins.

Joel Embiid is from Cameroon, not the City of Brotherly Love, but he still found time to tweet:

One more half to go #FlyEaglesFly

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) January 22, 2018

Is there anything in life more arbitrary than sports fandom? Despite the best efforts of people like me sitting at computers in the bowels of arenas and stadiums around the world to tell you otherwise, who you support comes down to a hodgepodge of geography, parentage and aesthetics. Maybe you just like a team's logo, colors, uniform or championship pedigree? Maybe you get off on abject self-flagellation, which has led you to root for the Buffalo Bills?

More so than even religious or political affiliation, sports fandom is something you inherit rather than consciously embrace. It doesn't mean much, but it means everything at the same time. We live and die with our teams, often in the face of rational thought.

This is true even for athletes, the talismans of our obsessions. Unfortunately for them, their job means playing against their favorite teams—or worse yet, working in a town diametrically opposed to their team. It's not as important for the journeyman or the role player to fly the flag for a city's other teams since you might be packing your bags at any moment. But for superstars concerned with building a lasting legacy, like LeBron James or Chris Paul, it helps to solidify your status as a municipal icon.

King James has not been shy about making Cleveland and Northeast Ohio a major part of his public persona, marketing himself as a local boy made good. He was all over the 2016 World Series, cheering on the Indians from a luxury box at Progressive Field.

Except, for years, LeBron repped the New York Yankees in public.

In 2007, he wore a Yankees hat to Game 1 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Indians. What made the public gesture even more awkward was that the game was in Cleveland.

He's also an avowed Dallas Cowboys fan rather than a rabid Browns supporter. Of course, being a Browns fan is akin to throwing a live lobster down your pants, so it's hard to blame him. Making matters more complicated, LeBron has chosen Carson Wentz—the injured quarterback for one of the Cowboys' biggest rivals, the Eagles—as his current favorite NFL player.

Kobe Bryant, who is so beloved in his adopted home of Los Angeles that the Lakers retired two of his jerseys, publicly declared his heart broken when the Dodgers lost in Game 7 of the most recent World Series. But he also visited the Eagles to give them a pep talk ahead of their matchup against the Rams in L.A., because he's actually a Philadelphia-born Eagles fan.

The mercurial sports fandom of Kobe and LeBron has gone virtually unnoticed by their legions of followers in their respective cities. When superstar players deliver championships to a city, most things can be forgiven. But for role players like the Celtics' Marcus Smart, the pressure to choose the right side is much more difficult. When he was recently asked about his allegiance in this Super Bowl, Smart replied with a terse "no comment." No one wants to anger the hometown fans. Either go hard for the locals or keep quiet.

The choice is particularly difficult in a city as sports-crazed as Boston. Recently, Celtics rookie sensation Jayson Tatum cleverly found a middle ground, bending history to his liking. "I'm from St. Louis, so the Rams left, so I guess I like the Patriots," he said. "I'm a big Cardinals fan, but I got love for Boston."

Tatum admitted there aren't a ton of Patriots fans on the Celtics roster these days, a fact that puts them at odds with much of the team's staff—equipment managers, trainers, etc.—who take New England football very seriously.

Morris is blunter when it comes to the social pressure of finding the right allegiance.

"It doesn't matter. I'm from Philadelphia," he said. "I love Boston. Don't get me wrong. I'm from Philadelphia. [The fans] want you to [rep the home teams], but it's like, I'm a big Tom Brady fan and I think he's the greatest quarterback to ever touch a football, but I don't want him to beat the Eagles."

Morris' lose-lose predicament as an Eagles fan in Boston could be different were he not playing in a city with a pro football team in such close proximity. For example, he could be Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry, who is a rabid Philly fan living in Toronto. Lowry's free and clear to do something like hold press availability where he only fields questions about the Eagles. On the surface, his situation is as close to ideal as any high-profile athlete-fan can hope for.

Though, consider the alternative: One morning, he decides to toss all his midnight green in the trash and throw his support behind the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. Lowry hops in his Bentley and drives to whatever Canada's version of Sports Chalet is so he can purchase all of the available team gear. He joins the ranks of former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, deceased comedian John Candy and deceased Toronto mayor Rob Ford—not the most recognizable celebrities of the current moment.

But it's not such a bad idea for Lowry, from a branding perspective. His friend, Drake, has publicly associated himself with the Argonauts; last month, he posed for a photo with a few members of the team and the CFL's Grey Cup trophy. And who knows? If Lowry becomes an Argonauts fan, he'll never have to worry about his local cable provider not carrying the games.    

There's always drama in Tinsel Town, so it should come as no surprise that much of the latest Los Angeles Lakers news comes from off the court.

The team is sputtering following a short Thanksgiving rest, dropping four straight contest in the days following Turkey Day. In that time, LaVar Ball has forced a controversial Lakers' rule change, while the words of those associated with the organization have caused a mild frenzy. 

Let us take a look at the latest buzz surrounding the Lakers as their actual on-court play continues to leave little to talk about of late.

        

High Praise for Rookie

Lonzo Ball entered this season as one of the most hyped rookies in several years, but another newcomer has stolen the show a bit for the Lakers.

After being taken with the 27th pick in this past year's NBA draft, Kyle Kuzma has been a revelation as a stretch forward. He leads the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game and is tied for third in rebounding at 6.5 boards per night. He also filled in great during Larry Nance Jr.'s absence, averaging 18.1 points per game in 11 starts.

Kuzma may be overshadowed by the Ball circus, but he has certainly caught the eye of one Lakers legend.

During a preview of an interview that will entirely air on SportsNet Spectrum on Thursday, Kobe Bryant talked of going out to dinner with Kuzma and how impressed he is by the rookie both mentally and physically:

"A lot of GMs are kicking themselves over that [pick]. He's extremely articulate and very inquisitive. I think that's always the best trait to have is curiosity. Because you want to know why things work. You want to know why things happen and how things happen.

"When you have that kind of curiosity, you're constantly seeking for ways to improve mentally, physically. That's the thing that jumped out at me the most."

Bryant later added that if Kuzma keeps improving, that the next time the two go out, "he'll treat me."

Strong words from the Black Mamba, but Kuzma's play has backed up that sentiment. He was recently named Western Conference Rookie of the Month, as he capped off a historic start to his career, via NBC Los Angeles' Shahan Ahmed:

Per Lakers MR: Kyle Kuzma is the first rookie in NBA history to record at least 330 points, 120 rebounds and 30 made three-pointers in the first 20 games of his career. Wow.

— Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) December 1, 2017

Impressive stuff for a kid who suddenly has become an integral part of the team's young core along with Ball and Brandon Ingram. Especially in head coach Luke Walton's system that emphasizes spacing and the ability to hit perimeter shots at every position, Kuzma is a valuable piece for the team moving forward. Having the endorsement of Bryant does not hurt either.

       

Lakers Trying to Quiet LaVar

LaVar Ball's act is no secret, as he looks for any platform possible to be heard and, some would say boisterously, promote himself and his children. Well, the Lakers seemingly want to shrink that platform.

Per ESPN.com's Chris Haynes, the Lakers will now enforce a policy that prohibits media members from congregating in the area of Staples Center where friends and families of players gather after home games. In what is apparently an existing policy, per Haynes, the arena will now more strictly follow it and kick out any media member who violates the rule.

This is largely being dubbed the "LaVar Ball rule" since he is a fiery interview waiting to happen for media members. However, he has also caused some issues for the Lakers of late, such as telling Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus last month that the team's coaches were "soft" and that they "don't know how to coach" Ball.

However, the eldest Ball does not seem to care too much about the rule, per ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman:

LaVar Ball to ESPN: "I'm not worried about the LaVar Ball rule." https://t.co/TZtdAcP8pU

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) December 4, 2017

Whether or not critical types of comments are the motivating factor for the team's new policy, it is certainly sparking plenty of talk on social media. Reggie Miller slightly defended Ball, while Clutch Points' Ryan Ward expects this to be the start of more turmoil with the self-proclaimed "big baller:"

https://t.co/YzLhu3j57a As much as I disagree with EVERYthing that comes out of Papa Ball's mouth, don't agree with people calling him the "worst Dad", he sticks up and protects his sons, more Dads should do that, but in a different way..

— Reggie Miller (@ReggieMillerTNT) December 4, 2017

It took only 23 games into Lonzo Ball’s NBA career for the #Lakers to begin enforcing a “LaVar Ball Rule.” Wonder how this will pan out

— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) December 4, 2017

Still, as ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne points out, Ball can still regularly make himself available to the media. The new policy simply prohibits media members from talking to Ball when he is in one specific area, but he is free to talk at any other time he pleases:

To those asking, even though @ChrisBHaynes story was clear, there's no official policy from the Lakers or Staples Center about letting LaVar Ball talk. He's free to say whatever he wants, whenever. They've just been enforcing an arena rule that makes it harder to talk to him.

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) December 4, 2017

It is impossible to believe at this point that Ball will ever stop talking, but it is not like his kids have been setting the world on fire.

Lonzo Ball has been a pretty good facilitator with seven assists per game, but he is just a Rajon Rondo-type player at this point thanks to a 31.3 shooting percentage. Meanwhile, LiAngelo Ball withdrew from UCLA following a suspension for shoplifting in China.

LaVar Ball's mouth has put a significant amount of pressure on his kids, and sooner or later they will have to back up their father's actions.

       

Magic Under Fire

Mike D'Antoni's time as Lakers head coach was a disappointment to say the least, and Magic Johnson was certainly happy to have him gone.

After D'Antoni resigned in 2014 after posting a 67-87 record in just under two full seasons, Johnson took to Twitter to express his relief.

"Happy days are here again!" he wrote. "Mike D'Antoni resigns as Lakers coach. I couldn't be happier!"

Now a member of the front office for a rebuilding Lakers team, Johnson was the recipient of some revenge Sunday. The Houston Rockets, now led by D'Antoni, socked Los Angeles 118-95 at the Staples Center behind James Harden's 36 points and nine dimes.

D'Antoni's wife, Laurel, did not lack much subtly when giving her thoughts after the blowout, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:

Laurel D'Antoni, Mike's Mrs., at the game tonight was asked how it feels to be back in LA. Said, "Is it classless to say 'Happy days are here again?

— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) December 4, 2017

D'Antoni has been flying high since his return to the NBA following his rocky tenure in Los Angeles. He is 73-31 in 104 games with the Rockets, producing one of the best squads in the league. At 18-4, the Rockets look to be a major contender along with the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference, as he is looking for his first NBA Finals appearance ever as a head coach. 

While Johnson may have set himself up for such a blunt comeback, he has bigger problems to deal with. The Lakers are 8-15 with a foundation that needs to start improving after four straight offseasons of drafting in the top 10. It is likely Johnson is spending much more time worrying about how to attack a potentially monster 2018 free-agent class than a petty feud over an inconsequential tweet.

        

Statistics are courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted. 

The Los Angeles Clippers are in need of backcourt depth after Patrick Beverley was lost for the season because of knee surgery, and retired guard Baron Davis suggested he could provide just that.

"If the Clippers need me, I could come in there and turn it around," he said during an interview with sideline reporter Jaime Maggio:

Say what Baron? 🤔😂 pic.twitter.com/fwosYUY1Vy

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 26, 2017

The interview came when Davis was sitting courtside for the Clippers' 97-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. While it appeared to be a somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggestion, Davis' return would give Clippers fans something to be excited about following the team's 7-11 start to the season.

Davis played for the Clippers for nearly three full seasons, although they traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in February of his third campaign with the team. That was the 2010-11 season, which was also the first time Blake Griffin appeared on the floor in a Clippers uniform.

While Davis is 38 years old now, he was a force in his prime as a two-time All-Star and member of the 2003-04 All-NBA third team when he was with the New Orleans Hornets. He averaged more than 15 points per game eight times in his career, one of which came in 2009-10 with Los Angeles.

The UCLA product played from 1999 to 2012 for the Charlotte and New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors, Clippers, Cavaliers and New York Knicks. He attempted a short-lived G League comeback in 2016.

Assuming Davis doesn't actually lace it up again in the 2017-18 season, the Clippers will need to rely on the combination of Austin Rivers, Lou Williams, Sindarius Thornwell and Jawun Evans in the backcourt with Beverley out and Milos Teodosic nursing a foot injury.

An 8-11 start still leaves much to be desired for the young Los Angeles Lakers, but help is on the way as the team returns from a short Thanksgiving break.

Larry Nance Jr. highlights the latest team news, as the Lakers announced Sunday that the third-year forward is expected to return Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers. Nance broke his hand on Nov. 2 with a recovery timetable of four to six weeks, but he will be back in just under four weeks.

Nance provides excellent versatility for head coach Luke Walton, who prefers to spread the floor with a smaller lineup to create favorable matchups in space. Despite only playing in eight games, he still leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game, and it appears Walton has no problem shaking up his current rotation with Nance's return, per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times:

Luke Walton said if Larry Nance Jr is cleared to go, he doesn't see any reason to not put him back in the starting lineup. Kyle Kuzma has been starting with Nance out.

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) November 25, 2017

Rookie Kyle Kuzma had been starting in Nance's spot and is the team's leading scorer at 16.8 points per game. Kuzma provides much more offense at the stretch 4 position, as he is averaging 13.1 shot attempts this season to Nance's 7.1 and is shooting 36.6 percent from three-point land while Nance has yet to connect from beyond the arc.

Still, Walton seems to value Nance's rebounding and defensive acumen, which makes sense for a team that already features high-end offensive talent with Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Brook Lopez. Walton said on Sunday, per Ganguli:

"I think our rebounding's gone down. Just the versatility at that four spot, the way we like to play, him being able to defend multiple positions. Obviously he's got some years in the league. For a young team that's pretty valuable. Larry's great at doing all the little things that help teams win that don't get a lot of credit. And he's got the ability and the skill to do the fancy things too."

Regardless of whether Kuzma is removed from the starting lineup or if the team moves Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the bench, Nance's return is sure to cut even more into Julius Randle's minutes.

The No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 draft is averaging 21.6 minutes per night with zero starts this season. He has been productive in that time, scoring 12.2 points per game while snagging 6.9 rebounds a night. However, he is second on the team with 2.3 turnovers a game and has failed to find a consistent role as a starter under Walton. 

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported earlier this month (via Jack Maloney of CBSSports.com) that Randle is "very unlikely to continue with the Lakers," and Nance's return could springboard that process. Still having upside as a skilled and powerful forward, Randle could be swapped for a solid draft pick while clearing room in L.A.'s rotation at power forward.

       

Ball's Role Not Changing

Speaking of Ball, the hyped rookie has been successful as a floor general, averaging 7.1 assists per night to help increase the scoring averages of teammates Jordan Clarkson and Brandon Ingram from a year ago.

Ball is also grabbing 7.4 rebounds a night, which allows him to quickly push the pace himself and utilize his elite passing ability while the defense is still getting back and trying to set up. He has started all 19 games for the Lakers at the game's most important position, but Ball has seen struggles as well.

He is shooting a 31.5 percent from the floor, including 25 percent from three. He is still creating offense with two triple-doubles this season, but teams are not respecting his jump shot, which is taking away from his great ability to drive and make plays. 

Still, Walton has been adamant that Ball will remain the team's starting point guard for the foreseeable future, as he feels the talented rookie is gaining valuable experience in his current role.

"The benefit is he gets the game experience," Walton said last week, per Ganguli. "Whether it's close games, it's blowouts, it's playing against top elite point guards that do different things. John Wall, as good as it gets at getting to the rim, a [Russell] Westbrook, a Steph Curry. So he gets all that in-game experience on the go and gets to learn from it all."

Walton also added that Ball is not getting the usual rookie treatment of coming along slowly, especially with the Lakers being such a young team. Yet, it will benefit Ball in the long run.

"He's handling it well so I think this way is working for him because I think it's going to accelerate his timetable as far as taking steps in his own personal game, but it's got its give and take," Walton said.

Even though Ball is being maligned for his shooting struggles, he is still generating a ton of production for the Lakers and the entire offense runs through him. He still comes with off-court baggage thanks to his boisterous father LaVar, who told Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus last week that the Lakers coaches were "soft" and "don't know how to coach" his son.

If Ball can block out that noise and avoid any conflicts with the Lakers, he should continue to develop as a shooter and become a star. Right now, he is more like Rajon Rondo as a limited shooter and great playmaker. He has a ceiling as a Jason Kidd-type player, and the current experience he is getting as a 20-year-old should help him get close to that goal.

         

Lakers Feel Strong From Break

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, Los Angeles was able to get a rare midseason rest in the form of four days off before Monday's tilt (the Clippers are technically the home team). Walton is hoping the work the team put in during that time shores up some of the Lakers' biggest issues.

Walton pointed to the team's recent defense and turnovers as major hinderances.

The team is 11th in the NBA in opponents' field-goal percentage by holding opponents to 44.8, and it is even better at shutting down three-point shots, sitting in second in the category at 32.4 percent. However, Los Angeles has allowed 110.6 points per night in its last five games, including a dreadful 122 to the lowly Phoenix Suns.

Walton was certainly not happy about this, and he emphasized it over the last few days, per SB Nation's Drew Garrison.

"I wanted to use this break, the two days off, to mentally get away and get back to doing what we were doing well to have success with," Walton said on Sunday. "For us that's our defensive intensity. That's how we compete on that end; it's our transition defense, our individual defense, and getting out and running.”

The Lakers play two high-flying units in the Clippers and Golden State Warriors (home Wednesday) in the next three days, so defensive improvement is a must. Having Nance back should also help.

As for turnovers, there are far too many this season for the Lakers despite this being expected of a young team. Los Angeles' 16.8 turnovers per game are second-worst in the NBA, which takes away scoring chances from a potent offense. Walton said, per Garrison: 

"We keep pointing [transition turnovers] out. We're aware of it. We show it in video so the guys can see the points that we're leaving out here, then we come out here and we drill. We do fast break drills, which is a lot easier when you got four days without a game. When you play every other night it's tough to justify doing that."

The Lakers are already averaging 105.3 points per night (15th), and that number could steadily rise if they can shave off a couple of turnovers per game.

The mental fatigue of playing every other night can wear on a young team that lacks much experience going through the grind of an NBA season. That is why this short rest should greatly help the Lakers, who are refreshed and re-energized with the return of Nance. Expect a strong effort Monday to propel the team to a win over the Clippers.

         

Statistics are courtesy of ESPN.com. 

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski could be lining up for a future Major League Soccer switch after his wife, Anna Lewandowska, revealed the couple "dream of Los Angeles."

The Poland international's spouse recently spoke to Business Insider Poland and opened up on their intentions for the future, noting the West Coast of the United States as a big opportunity for their brands (h/t Goal's Ben Valentine).

Lewandowska, a health-food blogger and former karate champion, said: "We dream of Los Angeles. That's where we want to develop our brands. We hope Robert will end his career at a club in Los Angeles and we can say it would be our dream."

While American audiences may smack their lips at the prospect of luring one of the world's deadliest strikers stateside, it seems unlikely Lewandowski, 29, will move while he continues to enjoy his prime years, as recently illustrated by the man himself:

5️⃣0️⃣ goals this year!🙅🏻‍♂️ @FCBayern @ChampionsLeague

— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) November 22, 2017

There's also the fact he has a contract at the Allianz Arena running until the summer of 2021, which means it's likely he'll spend at least the next three-and-a-half years on the continent before an MLS move would be plausible.

As mentioned by Valentine in his report, Los Angeles Galaxy were once the only MLS franchise based in the city, but as of 2018, the newly formed Los Angeles FC will join them as another potential destination.

It was the Galaxy who signed former England and Manchester United midfielder David Beckham in 2007, boosting the U.S. league's profile significantly. The club has long held a penchant for recruiting major stars in their latter years, including Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Robbie Keane.

However, Lewandowski recently helped Poland qualify for the 2018 World Cup as UEFA's top goalscorer in qualification (16 goals), and Sky Sports Statto provided further evidence to suggest he'll remain in his current setting, duelling against the sport's elite:

Europe’s top 5 leagues – most goals since start of last season (all comps):
70 – E. Cavani (68 apps)
70 – L. Messi (71)
61 – R. Lewandowski (66)
56 – P-E. Aubameyang (64)
52 – C. Ronaldo (61)#UCL pic.twitter.com/9ktKj9m7Lu

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) November 22, 2017

The forward won two Bundesliga titles and a DFB-Pokal crown at former club Borussia Dortmund before adding another three German top-flight trophies with Bayern, testament to how he attracts silverware wherever he goes.

That being said, Lewandowski has recently expressed some dissatisfaction with the workload placed upon him in Bavaria and his willingness to see an attacking rival arrive, early signs that fatigue is taking its toll, per Goal:

Lewandowski needs a rest!

The Bayern striker has told the people above him to sign another forward! 💰https://t.co/9C9QKuc8K8 pic.twitter.com/IFAiSUqujE

— GOAL (@goal) November 15, 2017

After so many years as the major talisman of the clubs he's represented, it's possible Lewandowski could be convinced to consider a late-career transition to MLS earlier than most stars do.

Lewandowska's comments suggest the couple can't wait to expand their horizons with the opportunities that await in the United States, giving the impression MLS will be the next step for Bayern's ace.

It is not often that arguably the top two teams in the regular season end up meeting in the World Series, but that is just what we have in 2017.

The Houston Astros won the American League West with a 101-61 record, while the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed the National League West with a sparkling 104-58 mark. It is historically rare that two teams of this caliber navigated this far into the postseason, per ESPN Stats and Info:

This is the first matchup of 100-win teams in the World Series since 1970, when the 108-win Orioles beat the 102-win Reds.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 22, 2017

What is not a surprise is that both teams will trot out elite starters for their Game 1 tilt. Add in a pair of elite offenses, and Tuesday should be the start of a must-watch series.

               

Game 1 Schedule

When: Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. ET

Television: Fox

Live Stream: Fox Sports Go

             

Game 1 Preview

There is perhaps no pitcher scarier to the opposition than Clayton Kershaw.

The best arm of this generation, Kershaw was outstanding again in 2017 with an 18-4 record along with a 2.31 ERA. In fact, he has posted an ERA under 2.15 in each of the last four seasons, so the Dodgers should feel pretty good about him throwing in Game 1.

Yet, his postseason play has attracted criticism, especially considering he has been roughed up for an ERA over 6.00 twice since 2009, and he allowed a pedestrian 12 earned runs in 24.1 innings in 2016. 

Pitching in the playoffs is difficult as it entails besting the top lineups in baseball. While Kershaw has not been untouchable in his postseason career, he has still been very good. He allowed just three runs in 11 innings in the NLCS, and his recent play has put him alongside another pitcher known for being clutch, per MLB Network's Jon Morosi:

Fact: Clayton Kershaw (8) has made more postseason quality starts than Madison Bumgarner (7) since 2013. @MLB @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 20, 2017

He has had some trouble against the current Astros lineup, though. Jose Altuve is an excellent 6-for-15 lifetime against Kershaw, including four doubles. Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis are also a combined 3-for-10 versus Kershaw.

While Kershaw could face some slight issues, he has much more room for error compared to his elite counterpart in Houston starter Dallas Keuchel.

Los Angeles' bullpen is brilliant, having ranked fourth in MLB with a 3.38 ERA in the regular season before following up with just three runs allowed in 28.2 postseason frames. 

Meanwhile, it took until Charlie Morton in Game 7 of the ALCS for any pitcher besides Keuchel and Justin Verlander to earn a win for the Astros. In the playoffs, the team's bullpen has been tattooed for 19 runs in 34 innings, and guys like Lance McCullers Jr., who threw four scoreless innings in the aforementioned Game 7, are not going to be available in relief on Tuesday.

Keuchel and any other Astros starter has to be perfect to earn a win, especially against a juggernaut like the Dodgers. It is not like Keuchel has a ton of experience with the Los Angeles lineup to lean on, per Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle:

Astros WS Game 1 starter Dallas Keuchel has never before pitched against the Dodgers and has faced only three players on their roster. pic.twitter.com/dEiG1cqAws

— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) October 22, 2017

This could work to Keuchel's advantage since the Dodgers have not seen his stuff, but it will still be tough sledding for him and the Astros. 

The Dodgers have scored 48 runs in eight games, while the Astros have been formidable with 44 runs in 11 games. Still, Keuchel has to overcome a team with an equal or better offense, a much superior bullpen and a historically great starter.

Throw in the fact that Keuchel went from an ace with a 2.26 ERA at home this season compared to a mortal 3.53 ERA on the road, all signs point to a likely Dodgers win to open up this season.

                    

Statistics are courtesy of MLB.com unless noted otherwise.

It was not pretty, but the Chicago Cubs staved off elimination and remain alive to defend their World Series crown.

A stressful eighth inning saw the Los Angeles Dodgers close the gap in Wednesday's Game 4, but the Cubs survived to force one more game at Wrigley Field in the National League Championship Series. Now they will try to get another starting performance like the one Jake Arrieta tossed in Game 4 to try to move the series back to Los Angeles.

Is that plausible? Perhaps, but familiar issues still exist for Chicago. With that in mind, here is how you can catch the rest of the NLCS action, with OddsShark.com providing the latest chances each will go all the way.

            

Series Odds

Cubs: 50-1

Dodgers: 91-100

                    

Game 5

When: Thursday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. ET

Television: TBS

Live Stream: TBS Live

          

Game 6*

When: Saturday, Oct. 21 at 4 p.m.

Television: TBS

Live Stream: TBS Live

Game 7*

When: Sunday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Television: TBS

Live Stream: TBS Live

         

Game 5 Preview

If not for Arrieta, this series could already be over.

The righty was nearly perfect in Game 4, allowing just three hits over 6.2 innings. His lone blemish was leaving one pitch up in the zone for Cody Bellinger to go yard in the third frame.

Unless the Cubs can get similar production out of Jose Quintana in Game 5 with an extra inning or two of work, they could be trouble.

Offense is still a serious problem for Chicago in the NLCS, as they have only scored seven runs thus far. The team is not generating enough hits to get men on base, which has resulted in all seven of those runs coming off of home runs, including five solo shots.

As Christopher Kamka of NBC Sports Chicago pointed out, consistently getting on base has been the death of the Cubs' lineup:

#Cubs postseason batting average
First 8 games: .172
Tonight (5-29): .172
They won, so whatever

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) October 19, 2017

Perhaps the most troubling thing from this series#Dodgers batters: 26 Walks, 32 Strikeouts#Cubs batters: 4 Walks, 43 Strikeouts

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) October 19, 2017

A lack of offensive support has left the glaring weakness of relief pitching exposed. The Cubs bullpen has given up a porous eight earned runs in just 13.1 NLCS innings, including 13 walks. To make matters worse, the team's most reliable reliever, Wade Davis, is coming off a 48-pitch save on Wednesday, which likely makes him unavailable for Game 5.

If all of that is not enough reason for Quintana—who owns an excellent 1.59 ERA this postseason but allowed both of his runs in the Game 1 loss—to throw the game of his life, then adding in Clayton Kershaw on the other side certainly suffices.

With a 2.36 ERA in 10 seasons, Kershaw is the greatest pitcher of this generation, but he has lost his dominance in the postseason. In 100.1 career playoff frames, his ERA is a pedestrian 4.57, and he has not been great in 2017, with six runs allowed in 11.1 innings. That includes two runs in five innings in a Dodgers comeback 5-2 victory in Game 1.

In fact, the Cubs franchise has had Kershaw's number throughout his career, per ESPN's Jesse Rogers:

11 career home runs off Kershaw by Cubs hitters, most of any team not in the NL west.

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) October 15, 2017

Still, this is Kershaw, and he should strike fear into any lineup he faces. He is also pitching with much more room for error than Quintana, considering the Dodgers' bullpen has allowed just three hits and no runs over 14 innings in the NLCS.

Even if Kershaw allows a run or two, he should still be fine. Los Angeles' two runs were its lowest output of the postseason, as the Dodgers are averaging just under four runs a game this postseason. Having Justin Turner put up MVP-caliber numbers also helps.

In 26 at-bats this postseason, Turner is hitting .423 with three homers and 11 RBI to go with six walks. He's kept in going in the NLCS, batting .385 with two homers and six RBI.

This is no fluke for Turner, who is among the greatest playoff hitters in MLB history, per ESPN:

No one in MLB history has had a higher postseason OBP than Justin Turner. pic.twitter.com/f4FwugVxsp

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 19, 2017

Everything about this series has pointed to the Dodgers advancing, especially now since only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have ever come back from a 0-3 deficit. Los Angeles is getting much better hitting and pitching on a consistent basis, while the hostile confines of Wrigley Field have not had much of an effect. The team owned the NL's second-best road record this season, and it already took a game in Chicago while nearly coming back in Game 4.

Look for Kershaw to throw at least six solid innings to allow the bullpen to close it down. Quintana has only thrown at least seven innings three times since joining the Cubs in July, and he will be hard-pressed to do so in Game 5 against such a potent Dodgers lineup.

Expect Los Angeles to take advantage of the Chicago bullpen late, thus securing a trip to the World Series.

        

Statistics are courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.