Ball 3

Part of the Dodger's new ownership group - Magic Johnson With the Dodgers being purchased this week for $2.15 billion , the long-suffering fans finally have a chance to exhale.  The new ownership group brings hope that the club can turn itself into one of the premier franchises in baseball once again.  However, because Dodgers fans have been through so much – a drawn out divorce with former owners Frank and Jamie McCourt , no World Series titles since 1988, a roster that hasn’t signed a marquee free-agent in many years, and an aging Dodger Stadium – the stakes have never been this high.  The Dodgers faithful are desperate for the new ownership group to not only return the club to stability, but also to turn the franchise into a West Coast version of the New York Yankees.  The large involvement of Magic Johnson in the club’s future only raises the bar higher.  Los Angeles sports fans have come to view Johnson as a deity who is nearly infallible....

The aging Los Angeles Coliseum The indictments this past week of three former managers of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum underscores the obvious – USC needs to take full control over the aging landmark.   Currently, a commission composed of appointed representatives from the city, county, and state levels runs the Coliseum.   This has led to a corrupt, bureaucratic mess that has embarrassed one of the most prominent venues of American sports.              Under the watch of managers who have taken millions of dollars from the venue, the Coliseum has become virtually irrelevant on the Los Angeles landscape.   This is why control needs to be given to USC.   There are some things that work well with government control, such as healthcare and transit.   Unfortunately, venue operations are not one of these things.   With the exception of USC football games, the stad...

General Motors announced this weekend that it is going to pause production of the Chevy Volt due to lower than expected sales.   Matt Stevens of the Los Angeles Times reports that The automaker informed employees at its Detroit Hamtramck plant Friday afternoon that they would be without work for five weeks — from March 19 to April 23. The move comes despite a jump in sales of the car in February. GM sold 1,023 Volts last month, compared with 603 in January. "Is that a Ferrari?" -something you'll never hear someone say when looking at a Chevy Volt While the Volt is certainly a major departure from the huge SUV’s that GM was pushing during the early 2000’s, the American auto industry still isn’t doing enough to produce efficient cars that are appealing to a mass audience.   The main competitor to the Volt is the Japanese-made Nissan Leaf.   According to Consumer Reports , the Leaf is $8,000 cheaper and gets 106 miles per gallon, com...