Tell me…

The NFL season has started and my favorite pre-season rumor was that Chiefs owner Clark Hunt would ban Taylor Swift from attending games because she was too distracting.

Sure. She distracted KC—all the way to a Super Bowl victory.

That’s anti-social media. The idiots who believe this nonsense also claim that there was no holocaust and that the earth is flat.

Do you want to know what a distraction is?

An NFL diversion is a team that plays mostly away games, including home games. And that’s what’s happening in Inglewood, so close to LAX, which also welcomes visitors.

Los Angeles is a destination city, but not a professional football city. And it’s where the NFL team that used to be here (you know, the Judases/LA Lodgers) plays its home games, games packed with opposing fans who put SoFi Stadium on their vacation lists the moment the schedules are released.

Unable to be embarrassed, owner Fredo Spanos happily sells thousands of tickets to out-of-towners, and they make noise when the Judases are on offense. Quarterback Justin Herbert constantly goes on a silent count, and if you think that’s conducive to winning, that it doesn’t help the opposing team, well, the last football game you saw never happened.

So this afternoon the Judases open their season at home away from home against the Las Vegas Raiders, who as everyone knows could easily be the LA/Oakland Raiders. Silver and Black fans are the best in sports to me.

Their team moves around like a military family, but their loyalty never dies.

Today will be a home game for the visitors. The hosts are under new management, with Jim Harbaugh making his debut as head coach, a position he’s found success in everywhere he’s worked — USD; Stanford; San Francisco, where he reached a Super Bowl; and Michigan, where he won a national title last season.

He gets a new group of mostly inexperienced receivers and running backs brought in from Baltimore (JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards are fine when healthy). The defense should be improved and the kicking game is solid.

That’s important because quarterback Justin Herbert is 16-0 when the Judases allow fewer than 20 points.

But is this enough to compensate for the lack of local interest?

Winning a Super Bowl is hard. Winning one with a hostile crowd in your ears every home game only makes it harder. The J’s probably won’t get there without a clear physical advantage, and not enough teams have that right now.

I have a lot of confidence in Harbaugh doing a good job. He was professional at USD. His teams are going to be ready to play. It will be a surprise if he can hit the big time right away, but if he can keep his QB mobile — and the offensive line looking better — Jim, who is unorthodox, is going to win games.

But winning a championship when you can’t hear yourself think at home is something he’s never had to deal with at Michigan or anywhere else.

He went from being a large homeowner to a cheap rental.

NFL and college officials are off to a great start. The last time I saw this many flags, I got off the tour bus at the United Nations. …

Little Richard had a song about American football being played on foreign football fields. “Slippin’ and Slidin’.” And the biggest advocate for player safety, Roger Goodellwants to triple the number of overseas competitions? …

There’s no doubt the Chiefs get preferential treatment (an assistant coach goes unpunished for calling a timeout on the Ravens?), and they’re good, just good enough. But I can’t think of a luckier team in sports, and you don’t win Super Bowls without luck. …

Baltimore was in it because Lamar Jackson‘s legs, but lost it because of Lamar’s arm. MVP quarterbacks make those throws at the end. The Chiefs defenders were hot on their heels. …

If Baltimore plans to “grind it” with Derrick Henrythen it is better to deploy another offensive line. ,,,

As of last week, WNBA defenders had committed 17 major fouls Caitlin ClarkBut she is not mentioned separately.

And I don’t get it. For Clark, the WNBA wasn’t under the radar. It was under sonar. She did nothing to deserve this treatment. The players should bring her bouquets every day. …

The best thing about basketball is the pass, and Caitlin can do that. Selflessness doesn’t help her. …

Thanks to Todd Fuhrman. To watch every NFL game this season, you’ll need: “CBS, ESPN/ABC, NBC, Fox, YouTube TV, Peacock, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.” The problem is, if you subscribe to everything, you can’t afford TV. …

Texas has firepower. Michigan has Nerfs. …

USC’s One-Handed Double Catch Kyron Hudson vs. LSU might have been the best of all time — that OBJ not made, of course. Little secret? Hudson’s was harder. …

Lincoln Riley‘s clock management at the end of the half in that game tells me he’s looking for an NFL job. If you know what pathetic is, move on. …

How many college coaches with poor clock management skills will forget that there is now a two-minute warning? …

Reggie Bushthe best college football player who ever lived will be inducted into the 2025 Rose Bowl Hall of Fame class. The same Reggie Bush who Piet Carroll on the sidelines during the crucial game of the famous national championship game in Pasadena vs. Texas (Reggie had three touches in the fourth quarter against a team that couldn’t defend). …

There is no difference between allowing a 2-year-old to drive you down an icy mountain road and accompanying someone to work. Fernando Tatis Jr. There is great danger for Fernando.

There may be one reason the Padres are infinitely better in close and extra-inning games than they were a year ago. Baseball. No one will ever figure it out, least of all the nerds. …

What the White Sox are is impossible. Baseball teams win by accident. …

TEAR, James Darren. Every cast member of “The Guns of Navarone” is fine with me. …

Does anyone else have Matthew McConaughey Visited Texas? …

American tennis has come a long way since the great Jerry Magee one of my favorite members wrote about the lack of homegrown players in our biggest tournament: “There’s something missing from the US Open. The US” …

I had an interview Taylor Fritz in his home in Rancho Santa Fe when he was a kid. It’s amazing to see him become what he wanted to be when he grew up. …

TEAR, Sergio Mendes. I love Brazilian music.

I urge all Ham & Eggers to ride their motorcycles down Florida Street and, after admiring their remarkably stupid and empty bike lanes, realize how dangerous they have made this road. …

I read that bees sleep five to eight hours a day. None that I have ever met. …

My mom gave me a packed lunch, not a bulletproof vest. Homeschooling? Doesn’t work when parents give their kids AR-15s.

Originally published: September 7, 2024 at 2:59 pm