FanView: 5/5/2026

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

Just call me, Knick.

Is my worst nightmare the Dodgers winning a third consecutive World Series? No.

My worst nightmare is Team USA winning the World Cup. I can't think of a more catastrophic event happening to American sport.

I didn't realize, until reading the comments, that the wounds from the 1993 heisting of the Stanley Cup from the Kings were still open.

What a beautiful thing. Tiberius Kirk would agree, as sports fans we need our pain.

Not so beautiful was the Met Gala in New York last night. I'm very judgey on this…I don't want to see any player from my team go through the humiliation process. And, if they choose to, I'll be a bit skeptical of them going forward.

After seeing the highlights while doomscrolling, my eyes needed a penicillin shot.

Last Add Gala: A lot of people want Joe Burrow, who attended the Gala, as the Rams quarterback down the road…Pasadena on that.

If you're in OKC tonight, $152 will get you into the Paycom Center to see the Thunder dirt-road the Lakers. If you want to see the Cavs-Pistons, 79-bones will get you into Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

How far has the world fallen? NBA teams used to play at The Mecca, The Omni, The Palace at Auburn Hills, Joe Louis Arena…and now Little Caesars Arena?

Every kid's dream…

I was indifferent to Minnesota at San Antonio last night until I saw what the Spurs were wearing. 

What in the name of Mark Olberding is going on in Alamo City? 

The sight of the fiesta/city connect colors enraged me. The look immediately made me a life-long T-Wolves fan. Tony "Top Cat" Campbell lives!

When you have no emotional investment, you have the freedom to make irrational choices about who you root for. The Spurs were easy to hate last night.

(And I'm a George Gervin guy!)

For almost my entire adult life, I've had two jobs—sometimes three—so it's hard to watch an NBA player, with only one job, be terrible at the foul line.

Doesn’t it bug you?

Julius Randle has to have the most bipolar game in NBA history. I've never seen a player so frustrating and then so good. It's probably why he's on his fourth team in 12 seasons.

Didn't we bring up something last week about bodying up Wemby?

In the end, Minnesota got the steal because Chris Finch out-coached Mitch Johnson.

Did the Chargers get enough help for Justin Herbert this offseason? They still feel thin at wide receiver to me.

Does anybody ever wake up in the morning and say, "Cool! I've got Angels tickets!"…?

#38—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth…

The Mets have won two in a row, are only 11.5 back in the East, and just seven off the pace for a wildcard—Yah, now things are starting to come together!

Last Add Spurs: I like Terry Gannon and Jamal Crawford calling the games, but if you're going to talk about the greatest big men in San Antonio history, you've got to mention The Whopper—Billy Paultz.

The Dude abides…

1,284

Ephesians 6:12

jtbank1964@yahoo.com

“RamView” M-W-F

Follow Joe on X: @joet13b

FanView: 5/1/2026

By Joe Torosian

Kick it!

If you don't know what "42-15-7" means…then you shouldn't talk basketball…Just run along, back, to Camp Snoopy and wait for the WNBA season to start.

What is clear, if not for LeBron—I said it—this series would be 3-2 in favor of the Rockets, who are just faster and younger. If I'm J.J. Reddick, I put my team through the motions in Game Six, rest LeBron, and gear up for Game Seven at home.

I don't have any answers for the Lakers in Houston tonight, but I do know the solution isn't more minutes for Bronny.

The first Laker game I ever saw from start to finish was on April 21, 1973, Game Three of the Western Conference finals. The Lakers beat the Warriors in Oakland, 126-70.

That win was always my standard for a blowout, even more than the Memorial Day Massacre, until…the Knicks burned down Atlanta last night.

Sherman didn't torch Atlanta as badly as the Knicks did the Hawks. At one point, New York led by 61, in a 140-89 victory.

Joel Embid has risen from the grave, and the 76ers have a legitimate shot to take Game Seven—third win—in Boston.

Embid just being functional with a healthy Paul George, a blossoming VJ Edgecombe, and a superstar in Tyrese Maxey…should make people rethink how far Philly could go…Especially if they dispatch the Celtics.

#36—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth…

If you want to check out the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Angels tonight in Anaheim, $21 will get you a seat in the View Section.

I've sat in those seats, and it's like not even going to a game. Hence, I would take on other challenges at the Big A.

(Ask me sometime about Juan Beníquez, a 3-run homer, and extra innings versus the Brewers)

We know anything is possible with the Rams. And because the Rams have a strong culture, even a problematic player like OBJ can come in and be a good soldier… but Stefon Diggs feels like a bit much.

A report surfaced that Chase Claypool was working out for the Green Bay Packers. If anybody ever sabotaged their career, it was Claypool, but if he doesn't sign with the Packers and his head is screwed on straight, I wouldn't mind seeing the Rams taking a swing at him.

Now that the NFL Draft has passed…Be suspicious when someone bangs the drum about a particular player being the steal.

Say hello to Tre Hodges-Tomlinson.

Tomlinson, waived yesterday by the San Francisco 49ers, was a sixth-round pick out of TCU by the Rams in 2023. When he was taken, all the postscripts to the draft reported the Rams got a first-round talent at corner.

"If Hodges-Tomlinson was three inches taller and 20 pounds heavier with the same skill set he has now, I don't think there's any question that he'd be the top cornerback in this draft class, and perhaps the top non-quarterback."—USA Today's Doug Farrar 

Note to Colin Cowherd: The Raiders weren't Los Angeles' team. Yes, they won a title. Yes, they had a niche they appealed to, but they were never embraced as a replacement for the Rams.

And anyone who was a Rams fan when they played in Los Angeles was still a Rams fan when they moved to Anaheim.

The Dude abides…

1,282

1 John 4:1-5

jtbank1964@yahoo.com

“RamView” M-W-F

Follow Joe on X: @joet13b

FanView: 4/29/2026

By Joe Torosian

Nick Van Exel should have trademarked "Cancun" for as often as we hear it at this point in the NBA season.

I like the NCAA tourney, but really? 76 teams for both the men and the women? I think 40 teams is stretching it these days.

The NCAA owns the NIT, push the other 36 into that, and tell everyone else to stay home.

Six days since last Thursday, and I'm all in on Ty Simpson. It was never personal. It was strictly the business of where he was drafted. But he's a Ram now, and I'm not about to "Atwell" him.

Do I think Mike Vrabel should be fired? No.

A lot of the KBM is rah-rah-ing Jalen Hurts, but in truth, if there were a market for him, someone would have traded for him by now.

Last Add Rams: I ran it through Grok, and Sean McVay is doing more national media (damage control?) in April of 2026 than he did in April of 2025.

Tuesday night was an example of why OKC will repeat as NBA champions…The Celtics losing a close-out game at home against the 76ers is ridiculous.

Love watching Wemby, great player, but has anyone ever roughed him up? Has anyone bodied him up regularly? This is my contention for all of the NBA's top players in the last 15 years.

Could a current player actually thrive in a physical league? I don't think so.

I remember when I was coaching in youth tourneys, I would tell my guys, "Hey! Get physical with that candy boy!"

I never said cheap shot, or hurt anybody, but some players don't like it when things get physical. And I'm curious about that regarding Wemby because I don't think there's any other way to stop him. 

Next Note NBA: The first step—only the first—to fixing tanking is to stop weighting the lottery. Meaning the team with 15 wins has the same number of bingo balls as the team that missed the play-in with 36 wins.

The Lakers host the Houston Rockets at Crypto tonight for Game Five. If you want to see Austin Reaves' expected return, it will only cost you $191 to sit alone in a section that the late Jim Healy would refer to as being of the horseshoe variety.

#34—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth…

The Tampa Bay Rays, currently second in the American League East, have won six straight. Has anyone—other than me when they played the Dodgers in the World Series—ever rooted for the Rays?

Don Mattingly being named the interim manager of the Philadelphia Phillies surprised me. I didn't even know he was still collecting checks from baseball.

Mattingly might be the most forgotten Dodger manager since Grady Little.

Little did lead the Dodgers to a wildcard berth in 2006, where the Mets swept them…

So I got that going for me…which is nice.

The Dude abides…

1,280

1 Corinthians 10:13

jtbank1964@yahoo.com

“RamView” M-W-F

Follow Joe on X: @joet13b