The Blob is not one for tooting its own horn ("Right, you bring the whole orchestra," you're saying). But the last time it was right about two things at once, Chester Arthur was president, and what it was right about then was A) this baseball looks like it might catch on, and, B) Chester Arthur sure looks like a one-term president to me.
So indulge, if you will. Hell doesn't get parka weather very often, so it's important to make note of it when it does.
In other words, the Blob was right about Luka Doncic. And it looks like it was right about the NFL in Los Angeles, too.
Being right about Luka Doncic actually started a couple of years ago, when the Blob tapped into a YouTube video of the young Slovenian basketball phenom. Doncic was all of 17 years old then, and he was already playing in the top European pro league. And not just playing in it, understand, but dominating it.
The Blob took one look at that video and immediately thought it was looking at a young Larry Bird. And thought Doncic, who was projected as a high lottery pick (which is why I was looking at the video), was going to be a Next Big Thing in the NBA.
"Yeah, but you never know with these European guys," some people told me.
"Trust me," I replied.
Well. Fast forward a couple of years, and Doncic is this: A whole bunch of stuff no 20-year-old in NBA history has ever been.
We're only 14 games into the season, for one thing, and already Doncic has seven triple-doubles. No 20-year-old has ever done that. He's averaging 29.9 points per game, and no 20-year-old has ever done that. He's also averaging better 10 rebounds, nine assists and 1.4 steals.
In the other words, he's exactly what the Blob saw on that YouTube video two years ago -- a young Larry Bird.
Meanwhile, in L.A. ...
Well, there is this.
And while I'm not one to say I told you so, I told you so. Back when crustaceous Rams owner Stan Kroenke kicked St. Louis to the curb, donned a pair of Oakleys and went winging off to Tinseltown, the Blob reminded everyone that L.A. was not and never had been an NFL market.
The Chargers began there before fleeing for San Diego as fast as their little Charger legs could carry them. The Rams never could steal Angelenos' hearts from the Lakers, USC football and the Dodgers (not to mention Malibu's tasty waves and the glories of Rodeo Drive). The Raiders came, saw and went back to re-conquer Oakland. The L.A. Express of the USFL, despite a glitzy brand of football led by quarterback Steve Young, played mostly to echoes.
But the NFL still lusted after L.A.'s beefy media market, and so back came the Rams. And back came the Chargers. And now, less than four years after the Rams moved back, here's a story telling us that the gaudy new Cathedral O' Sweat currently under construction as the two teams' new home may be the only thing that can save the NFL in L.A.
To which the Blob says: Like no one saw that coming.
Also: And it didn't take very long, did it?
"Not nearly as long as it took you to be right about two different things," you're saying.
Yeah, yeah.
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