Trojans are Pre-season #1? I, for one, am SHOCKED! Oh wait, no I’m not…

So USC has been picked by nearly every publication and sports authority across the country as the NCAA preseason #1 for football this year. Anybody surprised that the Rose Bowl winner, returning its starting quarterback and introducing the #1 recruiting class is being forecasted to go head to head with Michigan once again this year? Nope? Ok, good. Because I really don’t want to waste my time spelling out to you how stacked SC is since everyone else already has.

Now, as far as LA’s other team….how do they look to be shaping up this year? The Bruins are returning 20 starters this year, including QB Ben Olsen out of Thousand Oaks High School. I had the “pleasure” of competing against Ben in varsity basketball, but he is a much better football player, though he did have his growing pains last year. UCLA is also stacked with leadership, totaling 25 seniors. The AP has UCLA opening at #14, though solid performance early in the season could see them rise well into the top 10. They will be touting a veteran –line to help protect Olsen, and the Bruins actually have a formidable looking defense this year, returning 10 starters. Saturday marked the annual scrimmage in Westwood, with the coaching staff coming away pleased with the team’s performance. The Bruin squad looked sharp on both sides of the ball and they feel prepared for the 2007 season to kick off.

Should make for some exciting football this year in LA! Perhaps we’ll actually get to have two undefeated Los Angeles teams go head to head on December 1^st! Noteable games to be played in the City of Angels this fall:

10/6 - Notre Dame @ UCLA

10/20 - Cal @ UCLA

12/1 - UCLA @ USC

Sadly, the Trojans will be playing most of their big games on the road this season, but that always means better national coverage for the Pac-10, so we can’t really complain!

More Subway in LA!

Let’s face it; traffic in LA is a bitch. It’s not as bad as some places across the globe, but the gutting of an early 20^th Century rail system and growth prior to the grand implementation of the US Highway system has crippled the ability for our Freeway system to grow in any meaningful fashion. Slated to cost billions either way, which is better in the long haul; double-decker freeways, or an intricate and expansive rail and subway system for the city? The answer, for multiple reasons, is the latter.

Mass transit is not commonly used in the Los Angeles metropolitan area for two major reasons. First and foremost, people are married to their cars. The ability to come and go as one pleases and to have room to toss one’s excess crap cannot go unnoticed. However, it’s commuter traffic that does the bulk of the freeway clogging. So why do we need to use our cars to go to and from work? I’m not against owning a car, I’m just against driving it 400 miles per week the way I do!

Secondly, mass transit hasn’t become embraced by the Angeleno because it is not yet convenient. Buses still have to deal with LA traffic, so they are not the practical answer for your average professional commuter. Additionally, major arteries in LA are not serviced by lightrail or subway to connect them with the Metro network. Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Century City, Marina Del Rey, LAX, Warner Center, Burbank, and Culver City are all currently not serviced by the Metro-rail network.

However, were the “Subway to the Sea” completed or the Expo Line to be extended (which only makes sense), those who commute to the West Side from East LA would be able to do it in about 50 minutes if decent scheduling were implemented. Currently, that commute could easily be 90 minutes in a car. Economic savings in the form of gas, time, and automobile wear and tear would be realized for each and every commuter that this benefited, and they would not be few. Hell, if there were a Subway to Santa Monica, I’d move there immediately and try my hardest to get myself a job in downtown. With all of the revitalization that is going on in Downtown LA it truly is becoming the place to be…..that is a pain in the ass to get to!

The latest in the rumor mill of subway/light rail for LA is a Ventura Blvd. subway. This could easily get me to contemplate living in Sherman Oaks again, too. The new Orange Line is a failure for the specific reason that it does not directly service the dense Ventura Blvd demand. A subway would whisk commuters across the Valley floor, and has even been proposed to pass through Warner center and loop around past Van Nuys and Bob Hope airports before heading back to The Boulevard. It is my firm opinion that a Ventura Blvd subway would have dramatic traffic decongesting effects on the 101 freeway across the Valley. Not to mention the fact that LA has yet to have a lightrail or subway that services the terminals at any airport in the region. The Green Line stops a good mile from the main terminals at LAX.

So it should be no surprise that I am a HUGE supporter of a robust expansion of LA’s subway/lightrail system and I firmly believe that every Angeleno should be ready to foot the bill any way possible in order to make this happen. It is in all of our best interests for the sake of easing traffic on the roads and increasing economic impact in the area by freeing up more of our day either on the train with the ability to multi-task (I love the slogan Metro has: “Multi-taskers, we commute you!”) or by spending less time on the freeway. What an exciting time to watch Lose Angeles transform from urban sprawl to urban metropolis!

Disclaimer: College Sports Bias

I am a huge supporter of college sports, much more so than with professional sports. While I do intend to report on and give my opinions of the happenings in LA college athletics, I feel obligated to disclose the perceived biases that I may have so that it’s easier to understand where I’m coming from and how the topic will be covered on this site.

I attended a WCC school (Santa Clara University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the Golden State), so I will tend to give some extra attention to LA’s WCC schools, Pepperdine and LMU, especially as to how they fair against my Alma Matre.

As for the Pac-10 cross town rivalry, my school is also an SC and does not have a football team. So, ever since my Freshman year in college I have adopted the Trojans as my honorary college football team. This was in 2000 when they were terrible, so don’t call me a bandwagon fan; I’m better than that. However, basketball has always been my sport. I grew up going to UCLA games and basketball camps, not to mention both my Dad and Grandfather went to UCLA. That said, I lean to the West Side when it comes to basketball season. Still, I’d like to clarify that unless UCLA and USC are going head to head, I am a larger supporter of my city, so I never hold bad blood between the two schools and I root for both of them 8 Pac-10 games of the football season, and 16 games of the basketball season.

That being said, it’s abut time to get the 2007-’08 college athletics year underway!!! Football, soccer, and women’s volleyball outlooks to come soon!

LA needs a new Anthem!

It's been 30 years and we're still rockin' Randy Newman. Don't get me wrong, Randy Newman can make a great jingle, though he does deserve the grief that Seth McFarlane gives him. Numerous acts have put together decent anthems for New York, Atlanta has a great one (gotta love Luda), Will Smith gave Miami its biggest shout, and have you heard the new Common CD??? If you haven't, I've taken the liberty of adding Chi-Town's new anthem with none other than Kanye and Common. It kills. Yes, I've turned green with envy, and I beg for Snoop, Game, Dre, Counting Crows, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, shit, SOMEBODY to put up a new Anthem for the native Angelenos! Note: To Live and Die in LA is NOT an anthem, it's a tribute, similar to the Eagles' New York Minute. Don't make me have to try to write my own!

Check out Common's Southside with Kanye West.....