SoCal Photos: Day 125

The Hollywood Bowl

Bright Sunny March Days: The Calm Before the Storm

Welcome to LA, where the first full week of March is about as calm as the month gets for us Angelenos.  Yet there's a lot to get or be excited about.  The first and foremost is which, it's Southern California in March.  We're forecasted for 81 here in Long Beach, today, and it's still supposed to be the standard 72 and sunny in the South Bay tomorrow.  In Chicago it's 39 today, but hey, a nice 57 and windy tomorrow.

Then there's baseball.  Ah, baseball.  In March, it's just anticipation in town, as the Dodgers and adopted Angels gear up in Arizona for Opening Day in April.  Basketball is in the second half of its season, and the Lakers and Clippers prepare for the stretch-run of the NBA regular season.  The hockey playoff picture begins shaping up, spring football at the universities is arond the corner, and of course, March Madness looms large.  There's even this little even next weekend known as the Los Angeles Marathon.

But this week, the first full week in March, with wonderful weather, the home teams are out of town and the marathon is on the backburner.  This week, as the country brims with anticipation of bracketology, is Championship Week.  And in LA, that means the Pacific Life Pac 12 Championship at Staples Center.  Unfortunately for LA, both USC and UCLA have been eliminated in the early rounds, but Staples and LA Live are still teeming with action as the semis continue tonight, and both the men's and women's championships tomorrow.

I'll be on hand tomorrow, and will be sure to get some photos of the festivities to share.  There's always something going on in LA on the weekend, and this weekend, it's the Pac 12 Tournament!

So Cal Sports Check

Last week, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers deservedly took home the Cy Young award.  This week, Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers was undeservedly snubbed of the NL MVP Award.  However, showing enormous character, Matty just smiled, shook his head, signed his PHAT contract extension, and gave the classic 'wait 'till next year' statement.  We can't Matty.  We can't.  We're super-hyped and so proud of what you've done this past season despite the McCort mess that we're already on the edge of our seats in anticipation of March.



From postseason accolades to lost season lammentation: Though the decertified players and the league have supposedly resumed talks today in anticipation of striking a deal that would get Christmas games on the docket, I'm not holding my breath.  I started back in June with the solidified mindset that we would have a repeat of 1998-99 and have about a 50 game season.  That middle-of-the-road, should-have-been-realistic view is finally turning sour to despair, as I stare at the towel that was this season while I ball it up, ready to throw it in.  The media really needs to stop with the false hope thing on this one.



This Saturday at the Colliseum, the Los Angeles Civil War gets underway at 4pm with the 9-2 USC Trojans hosting the 6-5 UCLA Bruins.  Since USC is not elibile for anything that counts, UCLA will claim the Pac-12 South with a win and go on to play in the Pac-12 Championship game.  Who'd have thunk it?  Of course if they lose, Rick Neuheisel should polish that resume quickly.



Finally, since there's on pro ball being played and nothing to get excited about on that front, let's turn to the excitement of NCAA Hoops!  My Alma Matre, Santa Clara Universtiy, is playing tonight at the Anaheim Convention Center against Oklahoma after taking out New Mexico in a 79-76 overtime thriller on Wednesday.  It's still early in the season, and yes, the Broncos got waxed by UCSB in their first true game of the season, but they were sure to take out their aggression against San Jose State and continued the impressive play on Wednesday.  Tonight's game is a 9pm PST on ESPN 2.