Jimmy Bramlett

I don't understand Matt Kemp. We have seen him have a tough season in 2010. We have now seen him respond with a transcendent 2011 season. We have seen him in a paparazzi-filled relationship with Rihanna. We have seen him in a spread in Flaunt Magazine.

It was a warm day at Dodger Stadium. The sun was shining down as season ticketholders, former and current Dodger players and us scum-sucking media folk gathered to celebrate Dodgers’ pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s National League Cy Young Award.

We can add Clayton Kershaw’s name to Don Newcombe’s, Don Drysdale’s, Sandy Koufax’s, Mike Marshall’s, Fernando Valenzuela’s, Orel Hershiser’s and Eric Gagné’s today. Kershaw joined the fraternity of Dodger pitchers to win the Cy Young Award as awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Late Tuesday night came words that most Dodger fans had hoped to read or hear for quite some time: The Los Angeles Dodgers and Major League Baseball announced that they have agreed today to a court supervised process to sell the team and its attendant media rights in a manner designed to realize maximum value for the Dodgers and their owner, Frank McCourt. The Blackstone Group LP will manage the sale process.

According to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, embattled Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt has agreed to sell the Dodgers in bankruptcy court.

The coldest time of the day is the immediate hours before sunrise. At least that is what we are told. I’m usually safely ensconced in the layers of bedding in various states of unconsciousness unless there is a sudden urge to evacuate my bladder. Regardless it’s a rarity that I am outdoors when it’s so cold1, but there I was in the Saturday predawn walking towards the torch-lit Coliseum and into the condensed remains of my breath in the still dark morning.

Just like how Fonzie of Happy Days literally jumped the shark, college conference realignment has done the same. On Thursday the Big 12 Conference officially gave Texas Christian University an invite. Friday morning officials from TCU were mulling over the invite, and by all accounts it looks to be a done deal.

The few times I’ve been around the Kings in the last few weeks, two words have been the leitmotif amongst players: Stanley Cup. And as crazy as this might sound like, I didn’t give them a strange look and laugh snarkily in response.

After hours of negotiations between owners and players this afternoon, there is still no word on whether the Nov. 1 start of the NBA season is still on but it looks more and more unlikely.

This was the first Saturday of the Autumn Meet for Santa Anita with the only clouds seen were thunderheads peeking out from behind the San Gabriel Mountains. With the food truck festival on the infield and an 80’s cover band playing to the customers of the Ragin’ Cajun, Grilled Cheese Truck, et al., the mercury got up to 92 degrees with customers taking shelter under the few bits of shade afforded. But that wasn’t the only place where things got fiery.

Drew Doughty was busy with administrative things Friday morning that prevented him from joining his teammates for morning skate for the first time this preseason. There’s the physical, weigh-in and, most importantly, putting pen to paper on the eight-year, $56 million deal.

Restricted free agent defenseman Drew Doughty and the Kings agreed to a deal according to Kings Vice President of Communications and Content Michael Altieri via Twitter earlier tonight. The Kings issued an official press release 25 minutes later.