Cacti, Underwear, and Smokescreen Season
What West Coast Sports fans need to know about pro sports for the last week of February
Can you believe it is March already? This is the second consecutive week writing my second edition of the newsletter. My open rates are about average so thank you for not marking me as spam.
As you can tell, I’m still playing with the formating and open to any ideas. Otherwise, I’m working on some marketing channels to get my subscribers up. Over the next year, the test is to see how many regular readers I can build before I start growing into other newsletters, products and a bigger marketing budget.
Thanks for coming alone with me on this journey. Here’s the best sports reads from across professional sports in the Pacific Time Zone.
It Never Rains in Arizona
Rain is set to sweep across California, Washington and Oregon. Nevada won’t see as much rain but they will get some serious wind. Meanwhile, it will be a beautiful and sunny weekend for Spring Training in neighboring Arizona.
The Phoenix area will host teams from the Dodgers, Angels, Athletics, Padres, Mariners, Giants and A’s. All the West Coast teams will play in multiple games at the annual Cactus League.
Spring Training is a great way to escape to some sunshine and baseball on a budget. For most of us on the West Coast, it’s only a short flight or drive away.
Headlines from the annual event so far include Shohei Ohtani making his Dodger debut. Check out his homer here.
PS: Even after the Dodgers dominated the offseason by acquiring Ohtani and Yamamoto, they continued making headlines by re-signing Kiki Hernandez, acquiring pitcher Tyler Glasnow and trading away OF Manuel Margot.
Football Never Stops
NFL Draft season officially begins with the NFL Combine starting in Indianapolis this week. Most fans will look to a standouts from a conference formerly known as the PAC-12 like Oregon QB Bo Nix, Oregon WR Troy Franklin, Washington WR Rome Ozuna, Washington QB Michael Penix, Washington RB Dillon Johnson, USC RB Marshawn Lloyd, USC WR Brendon Rice, UCLA edge Laiatu Latu and more.
Here are some of the top players with hometown ties to Oregon, Washington, Nevada and California:
LSU QB and Heisman trophy winner Jayden Daniels is among the top California natives in attendance. He’s from San Bernardino, CA.
Washington State’s Jaden Hicks is a DB from Vegas.
Ozuna is also from Las Vegas and his teammate Jalen McMillan is from Fresno, CA.
Oregon State corner Ryan Cooper Jr. lists San Jose as his hometown while teammate Kitan Oladapo is from the state of Oregon.
Oregon Safety hails Los Gatos, CA as his hometown.
USC OL Jarrett Kingston is from Redding, CA.
Franklin is also from Northern California. Boise State RB George Holani is from Bellflower, CA.
Utah’s receiver Devaughn Vele is from San Diego.
USC corner Christian Roland-Wallace is from Palmdale, CA.
Fresno State DB Carlton Johnsonis from Moreno Valley, CA.
Calen Bullock, USC, is from Pasadena, CA.
Cal DB Patrick McMorris is from Santa Ana, CA.
Utah DB Sione Vaki grew up in Antioch, CA.
Ultimately, the combine is a job interview that tests prospects’ stamina. Players go through a series of on-field drills, medical exams, team interviews and more.
General Managers and head coaches are also available leading up to the multiple-day event. Coaches and personnel will open up about their plans for the upcoming year as well as what they learned last year. Often times, it is a lot of coach speak or smoke signals. You can find some of that in the headlines below.
WHY IT MATTERS: The Combine always feels weird because we get so excited to see football players not play real football. However, it is a dream come true for many of the players. Plus, what else do football fans have to hope for right now?
NHL Trade Deadline is Around the Corner
The NHL trade deadline happens March 8th. That means no shortage of speculation about what teams might be buyers or sellers.
Here are some trade rumors:
The Sharks may not be able to move Logan Couture.
Los Angeles may go goalie shopping.
Ducks may be working on a trade with the Oilers
What moves do you want to see your favorite NHL team make? Let me know with a reply.
MORE LINKS AND READS
NBA
LeBron James went on a Twitter rant about his son’s draft stock
Steve Kerr locked in a multi-year extension
Dame Lillard misses his family in Portland
Sabonis among elite players with double-doubles in a single year
Blake Griffin left the NBA behind to spend time with his family
Moses Moody steps in for Warriors’ Wiggins
Klay Thompson looking like a Super Sub
Gary Payton wasn’t letting his son be sorry at hoops
Jrue Holiday among favorites for Team USA
NFL
Antonio Gates opens up about HOF delay
Raiders won’t trade Davante Adams
Chargers undecided on stars like Keenan Allen
Seattle commits to Geno but not Jamal Adams, for now
Rams finally have picks and cap
Drake Jackson says he will be ready for camp
Andy Reid loves In-N-Out and San Clemente
Raiders’ former first rounder arrested again
Steve Avila credits the Rams for his successful rookie year
Surprise, the Chargers’ new OC loves Justin Herbert
Drake Maye is working with Philip Rivers
Saints hire former Raiders’ GM
MLB
Nevada State Education Association is leading an injunction to block the A’s relocation
The Community wants to use the A’s stadium
Why the Giants moved on from Brandon Crawford
The Giants are after Matt Chapman and Blake Snell
Kike Hernandez ditches Padres and Giants to return to the Dodgers
Giants won’t hire former A’s broadcaster
J.D. Martinez turned the Giants down
Cody Bellinger signs three-year, $80 million contract with Cubs
NHL
Saint West walks out with Messi at the Galaxy game
A look into the Ducks’ next season
Knights’ Captain Mark Stone placed on IR
Knights’ Jack Eichel is getting closer to a return
MLS
Timbers terminate corporate partnership with DaBella
Beckham did not celebrate Messi’s goal
How the Galaxy controlled Messi
Stay Dry and warm this weekend!