LA WATCHDOG--We are in for some bleak times as our local sports teams are failing to meet our expectations, other than the Dodgers. And even then, the Bums do not appear to have the momentum to win the National League, to say nothing of the World Series.
After 15 innings of uninspired baseball on Friday and Saturday nights at Dodger Stadium, the Boys in Blue erupted for four runs in the bottom of the 7th inning on Saturday night, resulting in a 5 to 2 victory over the New York Mets. But this victory was not without controversy as Chase Utley’s 7th inning, overly aggressive slide into second to break up a potential double play resulted in a broken leg for the Mets’ shortstop and a potential two game suspension for Utley.
As the Dodgers return to New York City for a two game, make or break series, the University of Southern California football program is in turmoil. At the beginning of the season, the Trojans were ranked as one of the top teams in the country. But after two losses, including a recent 17 to 12 loss to Washington, the team is not even in the Top 25. Furthermore, the Men of Troy (3-2) play #14 Notre Dame on Saturday, followed by #5 Utah and #23 Cal.
USC’s football program just took another hit on Monday as Athletic Director Pat Haden fired Steve Sarkisian, the team’s multimillion dollar a year coach who appears to have a problem with the booze.
UCLA (4-1), on the other hand, is ranked #18, having dropped from #7 as a result of a loss to the unranked Arizona State Sun Devils. On Thursday, the Bruins have a critical away game against #15 ranked Stanford, a 6 point favorite.
Our Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, the recent winners of two Stanley Cups, are off to a dismal start, having lost their first two games by a margin of 7 goals.
As for the poorly managed Lakers, the prospect of even making the playoffs appear to be slim as the team is expected to have another losing season despite the return of the aging Kobe Bryant, the highest paid player in the NBA.
The prospects for Doc Rivers’ Clippers are much better as they have added some depth and experience, but the odds of making it to the NBA Finals are not favorable given the strength of the Western Conference.
We will also be subjected to endless speculation about the relocation of one or two National Football teams to the Los Angeles metropolitan area. But there will be little conversation about the mediocre quality of the teams, the average ticket price in the range of $100, and the $500 million relocation that will be extracted from the relocating teams by rapacious owners.
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But rather than lining the pockets of these moguls, the NFL and the broadcast networks (CBS, Fox, Disney owned ESPN, and NBC) should deposit the $500 million relocation fee into a charitable trust in return for our eyeballs which will result in higher ratings and more ad dollars.
There will also be considerable chatter about Time Warner Cable and its unwillingness to distribute the Dodger games at a reasonable price to other cable companies who serve 3.5 million homes throughout Southern California. But if TWC is willing to holdout for a higher price per subscriber and forgo $150 to $200 million a year, that is their decision as long as they continue to support a significant portion of the Dodgers’ $300 million payroll.
As for now, the Dodgers are still in the hunt, facing New York’s hostile fans for the third and fourth games of a five game series. But if we can capture one of these two games at Citi Field, then the Dodgers return to the Stadium and the hometown fans with Zack Greinke on the mound.
While the Dodgers would have to beat the Mets, the winner of the St. Louis/Chicago series, and then knock off the American League champion, it is time to end the Dodgers’ 26 year drought by winning one for Vin Scully (#Win4Vin).
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee and a member of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council. Humphreville is the publisher of the Recycler Classifieds -- www.recycler.com. He can be reached at: [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 83
Pub: Oct 13, 2015
