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‘A good message.’ Why celebrating Clayton Kershaw’s retirement gave Dodgers mental ‘reset’

As Dodgers players packed in for Clayton Kershawâ€s retirement news conference last Thursday, Freddie Freeman waved the Kershaw family to a row of seats at the front of the room.

He wanted Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, and their four kids in front of the pitcher right when he sat down at the dais at Dodger Stadium.

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How else, Freeman joked, could they get the future Hall of Famer to cry?

Turned out, in a 14-minute address announcing his retirement from baseball at the end of this season, Kershaw did get choked up from behind the mic. But, it happened first when he addressed his teammates. They, he told him, were who he was going to miss most.

“The hardest one is the teammates, so I’m not even going to look at you guys in the eye,†Kershaw said, his eyes quickly turning red. “Just you guys sitting in this room, you mean so much to me. We have so much fun. I’m going to miss it.â€

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“The game in and of itself, I’m going to miss a lot, but I’ll be OK without that,†he later added. “I think the hard part is the feeling after a win, celebrating with you guys. That’s pretty special.â€

Days later, that message continues to reverberate.

For the Dodgers, it served as a reminder and a reset.

Ever since early July, the team had lived in a world blanketed by frustration and wracked with repeated misery. Many players were hurt or uncharacteristically slumping. The team as a whole endured an extended sub-.500 skid. Behind inconsistent offense and unreliable bullpen pitching, a big division lead dwindled. Visions of 120-win grandeur were meekly dashed.

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Amid that slump, the clubâ€s focus drifted. From team production to individual mechanics. From collective urgency to internal dissatisfaction.

“Everyone on this team has been so busy this year trying to perfect their craft,†third baseman Max Muncy said, “that sometimes we forget about that moment of just hanging out and enjoying what weâ€re going through. “

Or, as Kershaw put it after his final regular-season Dodger Stadium start on Friday, “the collective effort to do something hard together.â€

“All that stuff is just so impactful, so meaningful,†Kershaw explained.

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And if it had gone missing during the depths of mostly difficult summer months, Kershawâ€s retirement has thrust it back to the forefront.

“I do think it helps reset,†Muncy said. “Over the course of seven, eight months, you see each other every day and sometimes you take that a little bit for granted … Itâ€s not something that anyone forgot. But sometimes you need a refresher. I think that was a good moment for it.â€

Donâ€t mistake this as a “Win one for Kersh!†attitude. The Dodgers insisted they needed no extra motivation to defend their title, even after whatâ€s been a turbulent repeat campaign.

But, both players and coaches have noted recently, their efforts this year have sometimes felt misplaced. The togetherness they lauded during last yearâ€s championship march hadnâ€t always been replicated. A pall was cast over much of the second half.

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“When youâ€re not winning games, itâ€s not fun,†veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said earlier this month. “But at the end of the day, we gotta put all that aside. … We have to come here and enjoy ourselves around the clubhouse, regardless of the situation.â€

The Dodgers did that and more this past weekend, when a celebration of Kershaw — which included nearly team-wide attendance at his Thursday news conference, several on-field ovations Friday, and Kershawâ€s address to Dodger Stadium on Sunday — was accompanied by three wins out of four against the San Francisco Giants.

“Watching him get choked up when he started talking about the teammates — it was just a crazy feeling in that room,†pitcher Tyler Glasnow recounted from Thursdayâ€s announcement.

Added Muncy: “You hear when he talks about the stuff heâ€s gonna miss the most, the stuff that he enjoys the most: Itâ€s being a part of the team. Itâ€s being with the guys. Itâ€s being in the clubhouse.

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“To hear a guy like him just reinforce that, I think itâ€s a good message for a lot of people to hear.â€

In Muncyâ€s estimation, the Dodgers have “seen a reflection of that out on the field†of late, having moved to the verge of a division title (their magic number entering play Monday was three with a 10-4 record over the last two weeks.

“Thereâ€s been more of an effort to try and enjoy the moments,†Muncy said. “Make sure weâ€re still getting our work in, but try to enjoy the moments.â€

The Dodgers made a similar transformation last October, when they used their first-round bye week to build the kind of cohesion they had lacked in previous postseason failures — one the team credited constantly in its eventual run to the World Series.

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Kershaw’s retirement mightâ€ve provided a similar spark, highlighting the significance of such intangible dynamics while lifting the gloom that had clouded the team’s last two months.

“There’s obviously been a lot of things to point [to this season], as far as adversities, which all teams go through,†Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I think that as we’ve gotten to the other side of it … guys have stuck together and they’ve come out of it stronger, which a lot of the times, that’s what adversity does.â€

More adversity, of course, figures to lie ahead.

The Dodgers ended the weekend on a sour note, with Blake Treinen suffering the latest bullpen implosion in a 3-1 loss on Sunday. Theyâ€ll still enter the playoffs in a somewhat unsettled place, needing to navigate around a struggling relief corps and overcome a hand injury to catcher Will Smith.

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It means, like last year, their path through October is unlikely to be smooth.

That, after a second half full of frustrations, theyâ€ll have to lean on a culture Kershaw emphasized, and praised, repeatedly over the weekend.

“To have a group of guys in it together, and kind of understanding that and being together, being able to have a ton of fun all the time, is really important,†Kershaw said. “The older Iâ€ve gotten, the more important [Iâ€ve realized] it is. Like, you canâ€t just go through your day every day and go through the emotions. You just canâ€t. Itâ€s too hard, too long to do that.â€

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“You gotta have Miggy doing the mic on the bus. You gotta have Kiké. You gotta have all these guys that are able to keep us having fun and energized every single day. Thatâ€s what this group is, and itâ€s been a blast.â€

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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JBL Explains Why WWE Having AEW As Competition Is Good For Them

JBL believes WWE having AEW as competition is nothing but a positive for them.

On a recent episode of Something To Wrestle, WWE Hall of Famer JBL spoke in-depth about the company being in competition with AEW and why he believes itâ€s a good thing for them.

“I think it makes it better. I think it makes it a lot better,†JBL said. “The times that Vince did things that were crazy was when he was bored. He came up with ICOPRO when WCW had no ratings. Of course, then he had, unfortunately, the government trial against him at the same time, which took his time away and really hurt the business, but thatâ€s when he came up with ICOPRO.

“He came up with the XFL when WCW was no longer around later. When you have no competition… creative guys need to fill a void somewhere, and thereâ€s no reason to fill it with wrestling because you donâ€t have competition. Thatâ€s just my opinion. I would imagine, when you donâ€t have (competition), itâ€s hard to put your feet to the fire. I know with Vince, when things went bad, I would see him, and he was almost like, ‘Fantastic, I get to go to work.â€

“He gets to pull the company out of a tailspin or gets to pull something out of a fire. He loved that. And I think all creative guys do. And when you donâ€t have somebody to beat, I think it hurts the business. So I think itâ€s really good for WWE. I think their show is absolutely on fire and all the stuff theyâ€re doing is a response to… I donâ€t think AEW is big competition – you could argue how big they are as competition, I donâ€t think itâ€s much – but they do respond.

JBL believes WWE competing with AEW has a huge positive effect on the business

“And I think that has a huge positive effect on the business. And then you have other companies trying to be a part of this. I think itâ€s huge to have two companies. It was huge (working for WWE when WCW was competition). Absolutely huge. You wanted to beat them. You wanted to see what they had on their show and you wanted to go up against it. You wanted to be the guy to bat. And when thereâ€s no competition, what happens if you shit the bed? It doesnâ€t really matter.

“I understand your pride as a performer, I get all that stuff, but if thereâ€s no consequence for it, like, ‘Okay, it wasnâ€t good that week, weâ€ll try again next week.†If youâ€re not good when you have competition, and youâ€re going up against something that competition has, and you lose, youâ€re either gotten rid of or youâ€re put way down on the roster somewhere.

“You wonâ€t be in that spot again. So you love the competition. And I think the times that WWE has not been creative, and they tried to find their own competition within themselves, thatâ€s when they did ECW, thatâ€s when they did NWA, thatâ€s when they did all kinds of stuff – it just hasnâ€t worked very well.†[H/T: WrestleTalk]

READ MORE: “Blow Me†– JBL Crudely Responds To Fans Upset That WWE Is Counter-Programming AEW

What do you make of JBLâ€s overall comments? Do you believe competition from companies like AEW is good for WWE? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

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Hockey

Exciting Young Center Kulich Has Good Chance To Be Special N…

Jiri Kulich (Timothy T. Ludwig, USA TODAY Images)

Weâ€re about to kick off the NHLâ€s 2025-26 season, and here on THN.comâ€s Buffalo Sabres site, weâ€re moving through our player-by-player series in which we analyze every Buffalo players†expectations this coming season.

We began this series by looking at the Sabres†goalies and defensemen, and their third line – including todayâ€s focus: center Jiri Kulich – looks like a bit of a dogâ€s breakfast of up-and-coming talent (Kulich and left winger Jack Quinn) and gritty, low-scoring right winger Jordan Greenway. So the expectations on Kulich should be reasonable as to what he can accomplish. But hereâ€s our best guess as to what is reasonable for Kulich in ‘25-26:

Player Name: Jiri Kulich

Position: Center

Age: 21

2024-25 Key Statistics: 62 games, 15 goals, 24 points, 14:48 average time on ice

2025-26 Salary: $886,666

2025-26 Expectations: Kulich is entering his sophomore NHL season, and while his first year wasnâ€t worthy of the Calder Trophy as the NHLâ€s rookie-of-the-year, the 21-year-old Czechia native did get to the 15-goal mark – with all the goals coming at even-strength – in very limited minutes in only 62 games. Thatâ€s something to build on this coming season, but Kulich is going to be starting the year centering Buffaloâ€s third line.

We can see Kulich and Quinn having success on offense. Greenway – a tougher player who doesnâ€t contribute many goals or assists – is another story. So itâ€s going to be on Quinn and Kulich to generate offense for the Sabres and start to challenge upper-tier Sabres players for playing time on the line above them in Buffalo.

That said, Kulich has only dipped his toe in hockeyâ€s top league. Heâ€s nowhere close to his prime, but a season in which Kulich produced, say, 20-25 goals and 30-40-point next season would be considered an enormous success.

Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: Young Winger Quinn Must Make Most Of His Opportunities
Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: Young Winger Quinn Must Make Most Of His Opportunities
The NHLâ€s 2025-26 season has just about arrived, and here on THN.comâ€s Buffalo Sabres site, weâ€re continuing our player-by-player series in which we break down the expectations for each Buffalo player in the coming season.

So long as heâ€s able to get near those areas, Kulichâ€s status as a Sabre isnâ€t going to be challenged no matter how Buffalo does in the standings. Heâ€s young, heâ€s not making very much money (less than $867,000 per year), and heâ€s under team financial control for this year, next year and his RFA years after that.

Thus, Kulich will likely survive any change in Sabres coaching or administration. He needs to put forth at least as many points as he did last year, but he also needs to make Buffaloâ€s third line a legitimate danger. Thatâ€s what the Sabres are going to need to be a playoff team.

Unfortunately, making the third line an above-average group has been a tall task for many Sabres players before him, but Kulich canâ€t be properly judged until thereâ€s a decent sample size to judge him by. And that means he deserves the benefit of the doubt entering his sophomore season. But make no mistake – thereâ€s pressure there for Kulich to take a step forward in ‘25-26. If he reacts positively to it, the pressure on Buffaloâ€s top two lines will diminish, and it will take some of the heat off their defense as well.

Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: Staying Healthy A Key Concern For Rugged Winger Greenway
Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: Staying Healthy A Key Concern For Rugged Winger Greenway
The Buffalo Sabres need all hands on deck if they’re to end their `14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought. And that means everyone on the roster is going to have to pull their weight. What will expectations for every Sabres player look like? That’s the focus of THN.com’s Sabres site series.

Kulich could be a big-time member of a Sabres renaissance. By the end of last season, he was centering a line with Buffaloâ€s top scorer, star winger Tage Thompson. But Kulichâ€s two-way game is whatâ€s most encouraging about his game, and if heâ€s effective at both ends of the ice, the Sabres are going to have a good shot at ending their playoff drought and giving Buffalonians a team to take pride in again.

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