Don Wanlass

California

Writer, editor, sometime musician

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wavepublication.com

Articles

SPORTS DIGEST: Clippers, Lakers perform well on Grammy Road Trip

Feb 7, 2024 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterThey call it the Grammy Road Trip. Every year, the Lakers and Clippers (and the Kings, for that matter) clear out of Crypto.com Arena for two weeks at the end of January and early February, so their home arena can prepare to host the Grammy Awards show. This year, the Clippers and Lakers did very well on the Grammy trip. The Lakers went 4-2, the Clippers went 6-1. The Lakers should have done better.
SPORTS DIGEST: Chargers hope to make statement with Harbaugh hire

Jan 31, 2024 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterSeven years after moving north from San Diego, the Los Angeles Chargers are finally trying to fit in. At 1 p.m. Feb. 1, the Chargers will hold a press conference to introduce Jim Harbaugh as their next head coach. Harbaugh is fresh off leading the University of Michigan to the national championship in college football. He replaces Brandon Staley, who the Chargers fired in December after a 63-21 loss to the Raiders.
SPORTS DIGEST: Clippers on a roll after 127-116 defeat of Lakers

Jan 24, 2024 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterBarely at the halfway point of the season, Los Angeles’ two professional basketball teams met Jan. 23 for a midseason test on where they each stood. The Clippers won the game, 127-116, behind a triple double from Kawhi Leonard and 23 points from James Harden.
SPORTS DIGEST: Rams come up short against Lions in wild card round

Jan 17, 2024 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterNobody expected the Rams to be in the playoffs this season. They came thisclose to still being there, but in the end they lost to former quarterback Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions, 24-23, in the only game during wild card weekend that was close. Goff and his successor, Matthew Stafford, had a great quarterback duel. In the end, Stafford had the better statistics but Goff had the win. Goff completed 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown.
SPORTS DIGEST: Rams-Lions game features Stafford-Goff matchup

Jan 10, 2024 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterAlmost three years after they were traded for each other, Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff go head-to-head Jan. 14 in a game that really matters — an NFL playoff wild card round game between Stafford’s Los Angeles Rams and Goff’s Detroit Lions. In February 2021, the Rams — particularly head coach Sean McVay — had soured on Goff, their first-round draft pick in 2016, even though he led the Rams to the Super Bowl in 2018.
SPORTS DIGEST: College Football Playoff gets it right after 10 years

Jan 3, 2024 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterIt only took 10 years for the College Football Playoff system to get it right. Both semifinal games went down to the wire Jan. 1 with Michigan defeating Alabama 27-20 in overtime to win the Rose Bowl and Washington following that game with a 37-31 win over Texas in the Sugar Bowl that also went down to the final minute. That leaves us with a Washington-Michigan matchup Jan. 8 in Dallas for the college football championship.
SPORTS DIGEST: 2023: a year with no championships for L.A. teams

Dec 27, 2023 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterMany Los Angeles sports teams entered 2023 with hopes for championships. Alas, no local teams grabbed the brass ring. Still it was an eventful if unfruitful year for L.A.’s teams. The Los Angeles Football Club played for its second straight Major League Soccer championship but fell to Columbus 2-1 in the title game Dec. 9.
SPORTS DIGEST: Rams face Saints with playoff berth on the line

Dec 20, 2023 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterThe Rams play the New Orleans Saints Dec. 21 with their playoff hopes possibly riding on the outcome. Both teams enter the game with 7-7 records. The Rams are seventh in the NFC wildcard race, the Saints are eighth. The winner will hold the tie-breaker if both teams are still tied when the regular season ends. The Saints are still in the running for the NFC South Division title, tied at 7-7 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
SPORTS DIGEST: Dodgers get their man, sign superstar Shohei Ohtani

Dec 13, 2023 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterWhen the Dodgers truly want someone, they go get him. And pay him. In 2020, they wanted Mookie Betts. They put together a package of young prospects and agreed to take Dave Price and his salary off the hands of the Boston Red Sox, who sent the Dodgers a perennial all star. In 2021, they outbid others for Trevor Bauer.
SPORTS DIGEST: College football selection committee got it right

Dec 6, 2023 | wavepublication.com | Don Wanlass

By Don WanlassContributing WriterAll the controversy over whether Florida State belongs in the college football playoff could have been avoided if Florida State’s conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, didn’t team up with the Pac 12 and Big 10 conferences last year to keep the playoffs from expanding from four to 12 teams a year ahead of schedule. Those three conferences were afraid the Southeast Conference would be favored in the new 12-team format and delayed the process.