The lineup doesnt scare me. I see how good they are but from top to bottom but I just dont feel like they have that one unstoppable guy. Who is it? Bellinger? Turner? Puig?

The pitching is great but obviously Kershaw is gettable. Darvish and Wood are good but neither are scary.

Id take the Nats in a series against the Dodgers right now.


The Dodgers do have a great regular season team though and could see them winning 110-112. Probably not gonna break the record. They'd have to go 38-13 to get 117. Possible, but I dont see it. Plus ya gotta think they'll rest some guys down the stretch

They're great. If they avoid the Cubs they'll win the World Series.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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Even 110 (which is where I think they'll wind up, they'll definitely break .666) would make them the best Dodgers team of all time, I believe, which is saying something for a club that's been around since the 19th century and had its share of great seasons.

If it can't be the Cubs, let it be the Dodgers. Baseball's a better place with the Dodgers this good.

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They look unstoppable. Where did this Bellinger kid come from? I don't remember hearing anything about him and then boom he is killing it.

If I were a Dodger fan I would be a lil scared that they are peaking too early.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

They're obviously just catching lightning in a bottle .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Puig is a big part of it too.


I get more of a 2001 Mariners vibe than a 98 Yankees.


Would anyone be shocked if Kershaw gets lit up in game 1 and some weird shit happens in game 2 and the Dodgers go on the road down 0-2 in NLDS?

Agreed. All these teams fit that mold...

Yankees
Dodgers
Lakers
Celtics
Raiders
Bears
Notre Dame Football
Miami Football
UNC Basketball
Kentucky Basketball
Ny Liberty
La Sparks

None of those teams fit that mold

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Of course they do.

A couple may be arguable. Maybe you're a big Minnesota Lynx fan.

But to deny Raiders, Yankees, Celtics, Lakers or UNC is nuts.

And ABC bosses hate the fuckin Spurs

Raiders don't matter anymore now that they're going to Vegas

The Raiders were fuckin terrible for almost 15 years during a period where the league got more popular than ever. The Yankees haven't been bad in decades so they don't count. The Celtics and Lakers were both pretty bad in the late 90's when the NBA was as popular as it's ever been. Nobody cares about one single college hoops team unless they are a fan of that team. You're nuts

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Can't find the quote but there was a CBS Sports executive who recently said the network needed the Dolphins and Raiders to get good again. I feel like you're revving up for a real dumbass argument, like "only the Packers are like that"

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To get good again?

They havent been consistently good since the 70s/early 80s

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Is this directed at me? I've never held that the Packers are special. No team in sports is. Especially in the NFL.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Its not strictly about popularity. Though these teams usually will draw.

It's about what's better

Yankees-Dodgers will always be better than Rays-Phillies

Lakers vs. Celtics is always better than Spurs-Heat

NCAA basketball absolutely is better when traditional powers are good.


And it's an opinion, anyway so there is really no argument.

That is an interesting take.

#ThatsSubdivision

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Yeah but your opinion is bad

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Im comfortable on the opposite end of "no team in sports is special"

I don't think it's that interesting. Who gives a shit really about teams they aren't fans of? Hypothetically id like for the Knicks to actually be good for a few years to make things more interesting but in reality I don't really give a shit about any team other than the Bulls and somewhat the Spurs. I would think the vast majority of fans are the same way. Leagues do just fine even when their "premier" franchise are terrible for an extended time.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

And I'm comfortable on the opposite end of "sports are better when the teams that used to always be good are good again"

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

So you even feel it yourself.

And Im not saying leagues fold when the lesser teams are winning, its just not as cool

I doubt most fans feel the way you do. People get more excited for premier teams.

Well then I guess we're both comfortable!

But that's all it is. It's just how you feel. The reality says otherwise.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

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The reality is I like it better when it's premier teams. There is no arguing that. Its just fact.


You're talking about popularity. Different discussion. Although Id guess the teams I mentioned all get great ratings.

Right, and all the leagues don't see ratings suffer even slightly when those teams are awful. So... no team is special.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Special is subjective and its pretty silly to try and quantify it.

No team is necessary for ratings would be less ridiculous. But it's still a straw man as I never said or suggested any league would suffer with worse teams. I just said it's better with premier teams, which most people would agree with.

Just a quick look at TV ratings. Of the last 5 Spurs final appearances, the national tv ratings were a significant drop from the previous year. Lakers have opposite effect. Because people like premier teams.

That last part is cherry picking pretty heavily. The same would normally be said about the Cavaliers and Warriors except last three Finals have gotten great ratings. But the ratings thing isn't really debatable as you conceded. So I guess we just disagree about how we feel. I do think it's odd though that you want a bunch of teams you aren't a fan of to do well. Are you sure you aren't Justin Bieber?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The Dolphins were pretty good all through the '90s and still have a significant national fanbase, especially by Florida sports team standards, where usually the teams don't even have local fanbases. The Raiders were okay up through the early '90s but the point is the Dolphins and Raiders were big draws for the AFC on NBC, and CBS hoped to replicate that.

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