No but I remember a brief moment in my childhood when all the major sports seemed to be in progress at the same time, and every LA team was in first place.

Or maybe it was just a dream...

Well, Oklahoma beat Texas, so from where I sit, things ain't so bad...

SoCal sadness? Are you kidding me?

Both Major League Soccer teams in LA are making incredible runs into the playoffs. Chivas USA is vying for the top of the league and they may very well win the Supporters Shield for the best regular season record. Meanwhile the LA Galaxy are making an incredible - I mean truly astonishing - run for the last playoff spot.

You forgot last weekend was much worse for SoCal.
The Padres eliminated in 13 innings and Chargers lost to Chiefs. National League Baseball and the NFL trump college sports and the Anahum Angels.

Hey, be glad you don't live in Minnesota where no big time team can win anything.

why is it so windy in Tijuana?

because SoCal sux...

Soccerman: Dart players in seedy bars did pretty well too, from what I could tell. I mean if we're going to trivialize sports by including soccer success stories in LA sports culture, why not dart players, or billiards players, or hopscotch? Hopscotch could be experiencing a major rejuvenation in LA. Where's the love?

A different Matt - Some friendly advice: stop embarrassing yourself.

Having watched that Trojan idiot on a horse prancing around the Cal Stadium all these years, this week end is just fine. Go Bears!

Ah, but the great Oak Tree at Santa Anita was special today.

Poor craigie, having to choose between the Hollywood Stars and Steve Bilko of the LA Angels of the PCL - Or was it the LA T-Birds versus the San Francisco Bay Bombers of Roller Derby?

Who needs football, when you have such great Breeder Cup preps, at Belmont, Keeneland, and Santa Anita?

Kevin - No, can't think of any worse weekends. On the bright side, you can be thankful that you don't have the Rams there anymore exacerbating the problem further......

SoCal Sadness is NorCal giddyness.

As a Cal fan, this was one of the few times I was cheering, "Go Stanford!"

Don't cry for me, Argentina.

I am truly perplexed. My tickets for the Stanford-Cal Big Game have greatly increased in value, but I'm tempted not to sell them to some wealthy Cal weenie (that's what we call them, the weenies) and attend the game in person. Such a dilemma. What wins? Brute economics or institutional loyalty? Were I a conservative, this would not be an issue.

Growing up in the Seattle-Tacoma area when there were no major league sports at all.

But, the Yankees seem to be picking up things right now.

Off topic: For those in a different time zone than Eastern, be sure to catch the 60-minute interview with Bruce Springsteen. It' really good.

Move to Boston where it's all happening (Red Sox, Boston College, Patriots, except maybe for the Celtics.)

.


Up yours, Kevin:

Every victory for Notre Dame is a step forward for human civilization.


-dlj.





.

Go Red Sox!

Rugby World Cup 2007

This past weekend:

New Zealand lost to France
Australia lost to England

O woe, O gnashing of teeth. A final without those two is a disaster.

Maybe that weekend in the far future when the Dodgers move back to Brooklyn ...

Go Patriots!

Kevin, I can't think of any years for LA, but try pretty much every year in Cleveland. I'm waiting for the Indians to somehow blow it, whether they let the Yankees trounce them the next couple of games or whether they go the typical route of going to the big game and then stalling out.

Now here I was, a Bostonian moved to Pittsburgh moved to Columbus, contemplating
* A Red Sox sweep;
* A crushing Steeler victory;
* A crushing Buckeye victory;
and
* A real prospect that the Tribe will eliminate The Team We Do Not Name...
And I was thinking that it might the best of all possible worlds. Or at least the best we will see until 1/20/2009.

There has been sports sorrow elsewhere. It's one thing to just not win, but another to be so close to victory and then blow it or have fate cruelly intervene.

I still remember December 23, 1972. The San Francisco 49s were ahead of the Dallas Cowboys 28-13 at the beginning of the fourth quarter but went on to lose 30-28, their third straight playoff loss to the Cowboys. At that time the 49ers had never won a title game. They went 5-9 the next season and dropped to 2-14 in both 1978 and 1979. Their later success was beyond imagination at that time.

Meanwhile, the Oakland Raiders went ahead in the fourth quarter of their playoff game against the Pittsburg Steelers when Kenny Stabler, the Raiders' promising young quarterback, scored a touchdown with a 30-yard run after he couldn't find an open receiver. The Steelers got the ball back but played a poor series of downs and were reduced to being 4th-and-10 on their own 40-yard line with 0:22 left and no timeouts. The Raiders were going to win the game!

The ball was snapped, Terry Bradshaw dropped back, couldn't find a receiver, then finally unloaded the ball and it was deflected, sealing the Raiders' victory. Well, not quite... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Reception.

By this time the Raiders had a reputation for choking in the playoffs, always losing at some point no matter how well they played during the regular season. Would they ever win the Super Bowl?

Now that was a weekend of sorrow for Bay Area football fans.

Bill D.

Growing up in the Seattle-Tacoma area when there were no major league sports at all.Posted by: Mazurka

Jesus! When did you grow-up in Seattle, the 1940s or 1950s? Not likely if you are partial to Springsteen. The Sonics are starting their 40th season, the Seahawks their 31st, and the Mariners have been around about 30 years as well.

I think Chicago is more disappointed by the Cubbies elimination. A sweep, how humiliating.

Mazurka and Kit--

Nothing compares, though, to growing up in D.C. in the 60's, where the Senators not only were consistently last or close to last ("First in war, first in peace and last in the American League"), but the team that used to be the Senators actually turned into something good when Calvin Griffith took them to Minnesota. Maybe Boston Braves and St. Louis Browns fans (assuming there were such folks) went through something similar, but they always had another team to switch to.

My contender: When Al Davis decided to move there.

...St. Louis Browns fans (assuming there were such folks)

Every once in a while in St. Louis you still run into somebody who claims to be an old Browns fan. They're probably lying. The Browns were known almost as much for their abysmal attendance as for their on-field mediocrity. IIRC, there were a couple of years in the 30's when the Browns' attendance was below 100,000 for the entire season. Not even Bill Veeck's stunts could help much, and he sadly wound up selling the team to the investors who transferred them to Baltimore.

Heh.

Ha-ha. Ha-ha, ha-ha, bwahbwahbwah HA HA!!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Every victory for Notre Dame is a step forward for human civilization.

A world full of hunchbacks,,,hardly a step forward.

AZ Diamondback fans are the luckiest fans on the face of the earth.

Yeah, but we've got the Cup. (= To hell with the rest of it.

Is this the worst sports weekend in LA history?

Sorry, Kevin.

Mazurka, I saw Bruce tonight. Yes, it was a great interview. The man had courage to say he's writing the songs to criticize the administration because it's the right thing to do.

Whadayamean the Ducks lost? Oregon was idle.

anyone will tell when it comes to tough water fowl, penguins have it all over ducks. especially when they have sidney crosby on their side. let's go pens!

It must suck to be in LA. Really, really, really, really suck. And the sports stuff is bad, too.

After watching USC dump on people for the last 5 years, all I can say is ....

BOUT DAMN TIME

Besides, the Illini beat Wisconsin pretty soundly and Notre Dame lost. With the loss to USC, everything seems to be working out fine.

Too bad OJ couldn't have been arrested this weekend, it would have been a perfect capper.

Oh, I'd love to see ASU beat both Cal AND USC and shut some folks up.

Kevin, I'm trying hard to sympathize. But i'm a cubs fan. You don't know pain.

No, Kevin, it was the BEST weekend for SoCal fans.
The only better one that I could imagine is the one that the $poiled Children get totally stomped by Cal and Wooden finally admits that he sold his soul for all those southern branch wins.

Easy Kevin. The weekend Koufax retired.

Friend of Labor: "Easy Kevin. The weekend Koufax retired."

Which probably only compounded the misery of the Dodger faithful back then, coming as it did on the heels of their team's shocking sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles in the 1966 World Series -- a wipeout in which the beloved "Boys in Blue" scored but two paltry runs over the span of four games.

You had to bring it up?

But don't forget that the Mighty O's (Frank, Brooks, Boog, etc.) hardly outdid the Blues - combining for a .200 batting average; that two of the games were 1-0 thrillers, and the only blow-out occurred due to Willie Davis' three errors in center field (Koufax had a 1.50 era, despite losing game 2).

stop crying. at least you're not a philadelphia sports fan. four sports, no championships since 1983. no college football to speak of.

Don't for get the day the Rams left and restaurants all over CA had a Lack of Ram special...

On the other hand, the real San Diego Chargers showed up in Denver and kicked some Bronco ass.

It's pretty sad in Wisconsin this morning. First you have the mass killing in Crandon, which is more improtant than any sporting event. Packers blow a 17-7 halftime lead and lose to the Bears. Badgers lose to Illinois and on top of all that it's pouring rain.

Misery loves company though. Lets commiserate together.

ah, sc played sloppy and when you play poorly you should lose. Good for Stanford. However, can ucla never do anything right? and as for all the no. cal fans being happy. If I were a cal fan I would have wanted sc to be undefeated for the cal/usc game. Sorry about the badgers, this year has been incredible. anyone can really beat anyone this year. watch out lsu.

Both Major League Soccer teams in LA are making incredible runs into the playoffs. Chivas USA is vying for the top of the league and they may very well win the Supporters Shield for the best regular season record. Meanwhile the LA Galaxy are making an incredible - I mean truly astonishing - run for the last playoff spot.

I believe America is not a Christian nation but rather a nation open to all religions. I could care less if people learn to speak English. I make personal efforts to ensure that America remains a welcoming place for people of all ethnicities. I am proud of our nation's great history of experimenting with new social structure and values. But for the love of God, REAL AMERICANS DON'T WATCH SOCCER!

A couple of things: Anaheim isn't Los Angeles, who cares about hockey in Southern California, and . . . the Kings? A bad day for second sports and second franchises = the worst sports day in LA? Boo-Hoo. Save your whining for when the temperature drops below 65.

And Tom Veil: Stop embarrassing yourself. The "'Real' Americans don't watch soccer joke is now officially beyond stale, like "Real men drink Budweiser" and "Real Americans drive American Cars."

People were playing soccer in this country before American football and basketball were invented. And, judging from demographic trends and (real) football's natural elegance, simplicity, and superiority as a sport, people will be playing it and watching professionals play it long after the NFL has gone the way of court tennis and the Mayan ball game.

And, judging from demographic trends and (real) football's natural elegance, simplicity, and superiority as a sport, people will be playing it and watching professionals play it long after the NFL has gone the way of court tennis and the Mayan ball game. Posted by: david beckham

I'm not sure I'd be getting ready to dance on American "football's" grave just yet (John Belushi). But it's a fact that since I was in HS in the mid 1970s more American kids have been playing football (futbol, soccer, etc.) than ami-futo (Japanese name).

Ask any Cubs fan....

Kevin, it was the best weekend ever! But then, I'm a Mainer, a Sox fan, and a Notre Dame grad, so I guess that makes sense. But damn, will the Tribe finally nail down those pesky Yankees? Don't make us come out there and get them!

I'm going to have to say arguably, the worst single DAY was December 24th, 1994.

Not only did the Clippers, Lakers, Raiders and Rams all lose, the city of Los Angeles lost two entire franchises that day, as the Raiders went to Oakland and the Rams to St. Louis.

Oh, and there was an NHL strike that year, so it was a bad day for hockey fans, everywhere.

TRY LIVING IN MIAMI

As a philly sports fan who also loves Michigan, this season has been all about pain. I am sorry Kevin, I have to confess that at least Stanford's upset means that people are moving past Applachian State. (Plus Stanford's coach Jim Harbaugh played for Michigan while my husband was there.)

So you've bought into that "Los Angeles" Angels scam, have you Kevin?

What about Cal State Northridge foobtall? Undefeated since 2002!

JeffII,

I graduated from high school in 1963; thus, I am old enough to know just exactly where I was when Kennedy was shot. The Supersonics came to town in 1967. The Seattle Pilots came into town in 1969 only to be moved to Milwaukee after that season. The Seattle Seahawks came to town in 1976 and the Mariners sailed into Seattle in 1977. By 1967, I already had allegiances to the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. In baseball, I am a long time Yankee fan, madly in love with Mickey Mantle. The year Maris hit 61 homeruns is still vivid in my mind. I also liked the Baltimore Orioles. In football, I was a loyal Dallas Cowboys fan (starting in 1960). I remember when the AFL was considered an upstart league and would never last. I remember Joe Namath's $400,000 highest ever contract. I also likd the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers. Also, routing unabashedly for the Oakland Raiders. So, yes, I basically was a sports fan from a young age in the 1950's because I had an older brother who had control of the TV when Dad wasn't around. By the time Seattle got pro sports, my allegiances were already formed; but, I often wished for something local. I support all the Seattle pros; but, when they don't make it to the big game, I find it easy to change allegiances. The only allegiance that never wavers is for the University of Washington, particularly their football program.

Oh, and my older brother also introduced me to rock and roll. The first 45 (a small record with a big hole in it) he ever bought was called, "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" by The Cheers. From then on, my Dad was convinced we were listening to the music of the devil.