Podcast: What the Dodgers and Angels can do mid-season, and the best Crying Jordans

By Pedro Moura, Andy McCullough, Dexter Thomas

June 23, 2016 3:38 PM PT

Welcome to another edition of Sportswriters Blues.

Andy McCullough covers the Dodgers. Pedro Moura covers the Angels. We created the podcast to talk about those teams and other topics we disagree about, mostly related to sports.

You can also subscribe to our show in iTunes by clicking here.

In case you'd like to read along as you listen, here are some of the topics covered in this week’s episode:

Pedro goes to Game 7, and apologizes for talking down on basketball.

If you caught the last episode, you’ll remember that Pedro said that he found the NBA to be “contrived.” Apparently at least one person agreed, and left this glowing review:

For the record, Pedro does appreciate other sports, including basketball, and he explains the misunderstanding in this episode. He also said that watching LeBron James dominate in person was “lit.”

The Angels are in trouble, and that might not change until 2020.

There are a lot of people who think the Angels are the worst positioned team in the 30 MLB teams. A lot of that has to do with Mike Trout’s contract – even if Mike Trout is the best player in baseball.

Why did Billy Beane trade Josh Donaldson?

Two years later, people are still trying to figure this one out.

Andy: “Do you think Billy Bean has nightmares where he sees Rusty Kuntz watching video of John Lester’s lack of a move to first base?”

Pedro: “Yeah, I think when he has those nightmares, he wakes up and he turns up his sprinklers just a little bit higher.” (note: Billy Beane was publicly shamed last year by the East Bay Municipal Utility District for wasting water – to the tune of $6,000 gallons of water per day.)

There’s all sorts of other trades to puzzle at – like the Doug Fister trade, when the Nationals acquired him from the Tigers in return for Steve Lombardozzi, Ian Krol and Robbie Ray – or the Mike Napoli/Vernon Wells trade, which also earned a reference in last week’s Angels Mailbag post.

How good is Addison Russell?

Pedro: "Addisson Russell is a top 25 player, in terms of trade value.”
Andy: “it really bugs me when you say stuff like this. You’re not talking about reality.”
Pedro: “He’s a very good player, man.”
Andy: “He’s fine. …He’s fine.”

The best Crying Jordans

Pedro has a love-hate relationship with Crying Jordan memes. Andy thinks they’re the funniest thing on the Internet.

But both agree that this one, from when the Warriors beat the 72-game win mark set by the 1996 Chicago Bulls, is top notch:

https://twitter.com/thefader/status/720631511699968000

Notice that everyone except Steve Kerr got the Crying Jordan treatment.

Got questions? We’ll answer them on the podcast.

We’re taking our Mailbag column and turning it into a segment on the show! If you’d like to suggest a topic, or want us to weigh in on something, email Pedro at [email protected], or tweet us questions via the contact info below.

Follow Andy on Twitter @McCulloughTimes, and Pedro @pedromoura. We’ll be back next week with our take on what's happening with the Dodgers and Angels, and the world of sports in general. Don't miss it.

Sportswriters Blues is produced and edited by Dexter Thomas.

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Pedro Moura

Pedro Moura is the former Angels beat writer for the Los Angeles Times.

Dexter Thomas

Dexter Thomas is from San Bernardino and is a PhD candidate in East Asian studies at Cornell University. He has taught media studies and Japanese and is writing a book about Japanese hip-hop. Thomas began working in new media as a student director of programming at KUCR-FM (88.3), independently producing podcasts as well as music and news programs. He has written for several outlets internationally on topics as diverse as Internet and youth culture, social justice and video games. He left The Times in 2016.