Mr. Mojo Rising
Well I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around see which way the wind blow
—The Doors, LA Woman
Jim Morrison wasn’t a sports fan but if you had indeed just gotten into town about an hour ago and took a look around, you’d see some pretty unusual sights.
The month of May in Los Angeles normally means plenty of sunshine, the beginning of baseball season and the start of yet another Lakers’ run deep into the NBA playoffs. In 2012, the sun is out, the Dodgers are flying and the Lakers, while a flawed team, still have the sublime Kobe Bryant to keep title hopes alive for the beautiful people in the $40,000 courtside seats.
What’s different this year is that the Clippers and Kings are now in the equation as well. These are two teams that have had very little success recently; the Clippers hadn’t made the postseason since 2006 and the Kings are in the playoffs for only the third time in the last nine seasons.
Now the Kings are one win away from a berth in the Stanley Cup finals and the Clippers are in the conference semifinals for the first time since they played in Buffalo and were called the Braves. That was 36 years ago.
Nowhere is this postseason explosion more evident than at the Staples Center, the home of the Lakers, Clippers and Kings. In the next three days, the 13-year old venue plays host to five games, including a Lakers/Clippers doubleheader (12:30 and 7:30 pm) and, even more impressive, a Kings/Clippers doubleheader (midday and 7:30 pm).
Workers will quickly transform Staples from purple and gold to red and blue, then to black and white - as well as from hardwood to ice - while fans shuffle in and out to support their teams.
For years the Clippers played in the dreadful Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, one of the NBA’s worst venues. More often than not, the on-court talent matched the building and the combination reinforced the Clips reputation as second-class citizens.
Contrast that with the Lakers, who played in the “Fabulous” Forum, one of basketball’s legendary arenas. Sure it was far from fabulous (the so-called “Senate seats” didn’t make you feel like an emperor) but it had an aura about it. Eleven NBA titles have a way of doing that.
The Kings also played in the Forum, but the crowd demographics were far different from those of the Lakers. Jack Nicholson, Dyan Cannon and Penny Marshall didn’t have seats on the glass and although Wayne Gretzky provided some glitz and glamour in the early 1990’s, the Kings for the most part have been glorious underachievers supported by hardcore, blue-collar hockey fans.
Los Angeles is a funny sports town anyway. It still has no NFL franchise, but its two college football teams, USC (85,000 per game) and UCLA (60,000) draw extremely well. Dodger fans are notorious for leaving early, Laker fans for arriving late. It’s also a city full of transplants where you’ll see just as many Red Sox or Cubs hats as Angels caps in the sports bars.
Is La La Land the new sporting capital of the US? Could we see Los Angeles teams in the NBA and NHL finals? The odds are against it, though ironically, the Kings look like the closest to holding up their end of the bargain. For the moment, however, it’s a perfect sporting storm in LA. Put down your screenplay, grab a margarita and enjoy it.
