How Crucial is Ohtani to the Dodgers Success this Year?

By: Henry Jones

The Los Angeles Dodgers enter the 2025 MLB season with high expectations following their 2024 World Series championship. Analysts project the Dodgers to achieve a remarkable 104.5 wins, the highest preseason win total since at least 1990. The Dodgers also made many off season pick ups by adding Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to their bullpen. Sensational player Shohei Ohtani is also coming back from arm injury and will be able to pitch this year. The Dodgers’ lineup remains formidable, featuring stars like Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernández. The addition of Hyeseong Kim from the KBO adds depth to the infield. The Dodgers are heavily favored to repeat as World Series champions, with odds of +250, reflecting their strong roster and successful offseason. While the Dodgers’ roster is exceptionally strong, the unpredictable nature of baseball means that success is never guaranteed. However, the combination of a deep roster, strategic acquisitions, and high expectations positions the Dodgers as strong contenders for the 2025 season. Also, Shohei is projected to win the National League MVP. This is not a shocker to most people due to his ability to make big plays at the plate and be a reliable starting pitcher. Assuming he stays healthy (a big factor for any prediction), Ohtani’s two-way success will continue to set him apart from the rest of the league. There could be some load management for his pitching, especially given his dual role, but as he continues to push boundaries, the Dodgers may work with him to ensure his longevity while still maximizing his impact both at the plate and on the mound. Also, his hitting will probably maintain his offensive production at an elite level. After a strong 2024 season, he will continue to be a powerful presence in the lineup, hitting over 40 home runs and driving in around 100 RBIs. His batting average could hover around .270-.280, with his on-base and slugging percentages remaining among the best in the league. Expect him to also be a consistent threat on the base paths, stealing around 10-15 bases. While some people say the Dodgers already have enough stars to win it without Ohtani, I believe he is such a generational player that they just couldn’t achieve greatness without him.

Eagles vs Rams Game Review

By: Knox Buxton

The Philadelphia Eagles hosted the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. The game started off with a long touchdown run by Jalen Hurts and the Eagles led 13-6 at the end of the first quarter. The game started off cold with clear weather, but the snow started coming down slowly. The Rams cut the Eagles’ lead to only three points at the end of the second quarter before Philadelphia drove down the field and got into field goal range right before the half. The Rams came up with two big sacks that pushed the Eagles back and out of field goal range so they could only go into halftime up 13-10. On the first possession of the second half, the Rams drove right down the field and tied the game up with a field goal. The Eagles answered with a field goal right after that and took the lead 16-13. Towards the end of the third quarter, the Rams sacked Hurts for a safety to trail by just one point. The Eagles got two more field goals and then Saquon Barkley broke loose for a long touchdown run to make the lead 28-15 with four minutes left. Even though it seemed like the game was over, the Rams did not give up and quickly drove down the field and scored a touchdown to cut the Eagles lead to six. The Rams used up their timeouts and stopped the Eagles to get the ball back with two minutes left. The Rams drove back down the field and looked like they were about to score before getting sacked on third down. Stafford threw an incomplete pass to Puka Nacua and the Rams turned it over on downs to end the game. In my opinion, that game was one of the best NFL games I have watched in a long time. The game became very interesting once it started snowing at the end. You could tell that it was hard for both teams to play in the snow so there was a lot more running the ball. The only player that didn’t seem to be affected by the snow was Saquon Barkley. Saquon rushed for 205 yards and scored 2 touchdowns. After that game, it is clear to me that he is the best running back in the NFL. After all the excitement from that game, the Eagles have to get ready to face Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders in the Conference Championship. Both teams are hot, but I think it will be the Eagles who get the job done and go to the super bowl. If Philadelphia keeps playing like this, I still believe they will win it all this year.

NFL playoffs rundown (1\13\25)

By: Benson Elmore

The NFL has been downright crazy this year, and its not cooling off anytime soon. Teams are going crazy like the Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs. The playoffs are now starting and the pressure is getting high and the excitement for a potential title is rising. Here’s a rundown of the playoffs and my predictions for this week.

Rams vs Vikings

The Rams and Vikings have an exciting matchup going on this week, with Sam Darnold going crazy and the Rams keeping composure. In this matchup I think it is gonna be a good game, but ultimately, I think that the Vikings are going to come away with the dub. The vikings have too many weapons to lose this game, like JJetas and Jordan Addison. I am taking the vikings 28-24.

Commanders vs Buccaneers

The buccaneers have a high seed in this playoff picture, and dominant players like Mike Evans, Bucky Irving, and Baker Mayfield. On the other hand, the Commanders have Jayden Daniels and Terry Mclaurin. In the end, I am gonna take Baker and the Bucs with the win in this one 21-14.

Eagles vs Green Bay

In this one I do not even think I have to give a rundown. The eagles are one of the most dominant teams in the league as of right now, and they are coming into this thing hot. Saquon Barkley almost set the single season rushing yards record for the regular season in his first year with the Eagles. The Eagles are gonna kill the Packers and it is not even gonna be close. When the Eagles win 22-10, remind everyone that Benson told you so.

Texans vs Chargers

In this matchup, I do not really see any team dominating this game, but I love me some CJ Stroud, even though he is not having a career defining season. In an absolute dogfight all night long, I am taking the Texans 14-10

Ravens vs Steelers

In this matchup, I am seriously not even going into depth about this one, because if you really think that the Steelers are even going to come close to winning this one, you are biased and do not know ball. Ravens 31-14.

Broncos vs Bills

In this game, I really want it to be close, because Bo Nix has made a statement that he is ready for the playoffs and he can be a franchise QB. Even though the Bills have Josh Allen and the higher seed and spread on their side, I am going to choose the Denver Broncos, though I would never see myself saying this. The Broncos this year have just surprised me too much not to take them. Give me the Broncos 24-21

NBA Play-In Tournament

by: Andrew Brown

Rules: The 7 and 8 seeds of both conferences will play one game. The winner of the side will receive a spot in the playoffs facing the 2 seed while the loser of this game will get another chance to get in the playoffs as it will play the winner of the 9 and 10 seed games. The winner of the 7/8 seed game on the western side will play the 2 seed Denver Nuggets and the winner of the eastern seed side will play the 2 seed New York Knicks. After those seeds play, the 9/10 seeds will play. The winner of the 9/10 seed game will go on to play the loser of the 7/8 seed to get a spot in the playoffs against the number 1 seed. Whoever loses this matchup will be eliminated from the playoffs.

Western Conference
Tuesday 16

8 Lakers vs #7 Pelicans 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: Pelicans. The Lakers won the regular season series 3-1. With Zion looking better than ever I see him having a really good game. With Zion being physically matched to handle Lebron strength expect him to have a low scoring game. With them being one of the best defensive teams in the league it’ll be hard for the Lakers to get shots up especially in the paint as they rank number 5 in the nba in opposing teams points in the paint per game. But scoring in the paint is one thing the Lakers are good at. The Lakers are the second best team in the Nba in doing that. The Lakers also might lose this game on purpose just so they don’t have to play the Nuggets. This game is going to come down to Zion, whoever wins the battle down low and if the Lakers are hitting from deep.

10 Warriors vs #9 Kings 10:00pm

Who’s going to win: Kings. The regular season series was a tie at 2 apiece (2-2). This team feeds off energy and when they get hype they get hot. After the Warriors made them pack their bags up last year this is a revenge game. For the Kings this game is more than making the playoffs. They want to destroy the Warriors and let them know how it feels. I expect Fox and Sabonis to have big games and send the Warriors home. As for the Warriors Curry likes to be
the villain. He has carried his team to the playoffs and when you think they have no way of winning he shows up and gets it done. If he isn’t shooting well in this game then they have no chance of winning. With that being said Veterans like Klay and Paul need to use their experience to help Curry out and win this game.

Eastern Conference
Wednesday 17

8 Heat vs #7 76ers 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: 76ers. The regular season series was a tie at 2 apiece (2-2). With Embiid back, winning will be much easier for the 76ers. When Embiid plays they win 79% of their games (31-8) but when he doesn’t play they win 37% of their games (16-27) which means they are losing 63% of their games when he doesn’t play. As for tonight, Embiid should easily score. Losing will be embarrassing especially when they only have Jimmy Butler. As for the Heat, their only priority for this game is slowing down Embiid. Playoff Jimmy also needs to be activated for this game in order to win and get into the playoffs.

10 Hawks vs #9 Bulls 10:00pm

Who’s going to win: Hawks. The Bulls have won the regular season series 2-1. This team is hard to figure out. They can beat the number 1 Celtics back to back nights and then lose to the Hornets 2 weeks later. Even though they are on a 6 game losing streak Trae Young and the Hawks won’t go out without a fight. They know that if they lose their season is over so I expect Young and Murray to come out aggressively and have big games. As for the Bulls who have been dealing with injuries this season they just need to focus and win this game. Demar DeRosen needs to come up big to win this game.

Eastern/ Western Conference
Friday 19

Winner of Eastern #9/10 vs Loser of Eastern #7/8 Time TBD

Winner of Western #9/10 vs Loser of Western #7/8 Time TBD

A Brutal Ending

By Connor Hanson

My beloved Packers have fallen in the most heartbreaking game of the season. I’ve never actually been emotionally affected by the outcome of a game, but this game was different. This team was different, we had a beat up running back, young wide receiver core, and an unproven quarterback.

We were expected to go into a rebuild this year, and for the first 9 games, it looked like we were, but we persevered and pushed through the tough times and made a playoff push. All of this is thanks to the complete turnaround that Jordan Love has had. He went from having the worst qbr in the league for the middle of the year to leading the league in that same statistic for the last 5 weeks of the season.

But, all good things must subside, and change to something melancholy. On Saturday the Packers faced the explosive 49ers. And for 57 minutes we were the better team, but we got slapped in the face by having a rookie kicker. He missed the kick that would have secured a tie if the 49ers scored. But, they marched down the field and scored with 1:35 seconds left in the 4th quarter putting them up by 3. Jordan Love was making great throws and skillfully managing the game clock. In the end, he threw a game-ending interception, to end in heartbreaking fashion.