Ball 3

This past week, Minnesota lawmakers voted against a proposed stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.   The Vikings current stadium, the Metrodome, has been in disrepair for the past decade or so and the team has been lobbying for a new facility.   Soon after this decision by the legislature, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell flew in to St. Paul to remind them that Los Angeles doesn’t have a team.   That same day, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf’s jet was spotted in LA .   Sure enough, the legislature got a potential stadium deal back on track the next day. The Metrodome after its roof collapsed in a snowstorm There is very little argument against the fact that the Vikings need a new stadium.   However, the NFL is once again exerting its influence to get cities and states to put up public money to aid billion-dollar franchises.   You can’t exactly blame the NFL for this; they are simply doing what is best for the league and its franchises.   But ...

Several events over the past few weeks have gotten me thinking about the way we hear sports.  The first was the announcement that USC is looking to "update the football gameday experience" by replacing their longtime PA announcer Dennis Packer.  The second was Vin Scully’s absence during Dodger’s broadcasts, including the home opener, due to a bad cold.  And the third was the Dodgers honoring their longtime organist Nancy Bea Hefley for 25 years of service.    Classic Vin Scully We typically think of sports as purely visual experiences.  However, when you take away the sounds of the game, you learn to appreciate how important this sense is to your experience.  Growing up, my three teams were the Lakers, the Dodgers, and USC football.  I didn’t go to many Lakers or Dodgers games, so I spent a lot of time watching them on television.  This meant that I spent countless hours learning the games from Vin Scully and Chick Hearn,...

Rendering of Farmers Field in Downtown LA This past week, a 10,000 page environmental impact report (EIR) was published for the proposed Farmers Field stadium in Downtown Los Angeles.   This was a major step forward for a project that is the best option for the NFL to return to LA.   While there is a competing project in the City of Industry and some people have named Dodger Stadium as an ideal place for a stadium, Farmers Field makes the most sense for the region.               The EIR told us much of what we already knew, in the brevity of 17 volumes.   There will be traffic going to games.   Guess what, there is traffic at every stadium in America.   It once took me 2 and a half hours to get off the freeway and into the parking lot at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.   That stadium is located in the suburbs and is surrounded by freeways.        ...

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...