Another SoCal Sports Team Has Won a Championship!

Los Angeles Football Club

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC, which is party owned by actor Will Ferrell, as shown in the tweets below) for winning its very first Major League Soccer championship after defeating the Philadelphia Union, 3-0, at Banc of California Stadium near downtown L.A. yesterday!

LAFC's first MLS Cup comes eight years after its rival regional team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, won its last soccer title in 2014...which is also the year that LAFC was founded. The Galaxy is currently the most successful MLS team with five championships.

This victory makes up for the Dodgers losing in the first round of the playoffs last month (even though the team won a franchise-record 111 games during the regular season), and the Houston Cheaters—err, Astros clinching their first official World Series title yesterday.

Anyways. The Lakers, Dodgers, Sparks, Rams, Angels, Ducks, Galaxy and now LAFC...

Get the f*ck out of Southern California, Clippers! You don't belong here.

(The Chargers have only been in Los Angeles for a few years... They still have an excuse.)

Waking up in a City of Champions.

GOOD MORNING, LOS ANGELES. 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/KvRKeHWzDg

— LAFC (@LAFC) November 6, 2022

Will Ferrell drinks out of @MLS Cup 👏🤣 pic.twitter.com/yPnbsHpD5e

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 5, 2022

😁🥇@LAFC #Champions pic.twitter.com/tYcNdT2u9S

— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) November 6, 2022

Random Pics from the OC...

Just thought I'd share these photos that I took when I recently drove down to Orange County during a day off from work. For those of you who aren't sports fans, Honda Center is the home of the Anaheim Ducks (the 2007 Stanley Cup champion), Angel Stadium of Anaheim is, of course, home to the Dodgers (and by that, I mean the L.A. Angels of Anaheim... Thanks, Arte Moreno), and the last photo is of a Metro bus station that is being constructed a few blocks down from Angel Stadium. The design of this station is pretty cool; you'd have to see it in person (after it opens) to appreciate the architecture. Oh, and the movie theater shown above is located a few blocks down from Honda Center. I usually go there to watch select blockbuster films such as Transformers. Speaking of which, I think I'll watch the newest installment, Age of Extinction, at this cinema sometime next week. Not in XD though... I'd rather just pay matinee price.

Photo of the Day

I've just updated my SoCal Sports Wall of Fame with the Los Angeles Times' special sports page commemorating the L.A. Kings' new Stanley Cup title. I have no more space on my wall (at least this part of my wall), so I had to remove the L.A. Times front page section that featured the Anaheim Ducks' 2007 Stanley Cup win in order to make room for the Kings' article. Hey— When the day comes that the Ducks return to the Stanley Cup and win their second championship, then I'll ponder about whether or not I should make space on another wall in my bedroom for Anaheim's accomplishment. Until then, Go Kings Go!

The Stanley Cup Playoffs: It's Ducks VS. Kings!

Bring on the Freeway Series! With the Los Angeles Kings prevailing over the San Jose Sharks, 5-1, in Game 7 at NoCal tonight, L.A. finally set in stone the very first playoff match between two SoCal sports teams (the Kings versus the Anaheim Ducks). I'm not watching Major League Baseball, so I don't know just how well the Dodgers and Anaheim Angels (no, I won't call them the L.A. Angels of Anaheim) are doing right now, so I can't gauge if there's a chance (it's much too early to discuss this, anyway) that there will be a Freeway Series between them during the Fall Classic this October. As for hockey, Game 1 between the Kings and Ducks in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs will take place this Saturday (at the Honda Center, the Ducks' home arena, in Orange County). Doesn't matter who wins this weekend; either way, it's a great time to be a SoCal sports fan. And I don't think I even need to make a Donald Sterling or Mike D'Antoni reference here... Clippers and Lakers fans can rejoice as well.

Why The L.A. Kings Rock...

Just thought I'd share this cool animated GIF that I found online showing L.A. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick doing a scorpion kick to block the puck (shot by the Winnipeg Jets' Blake Wheeler) as Los Angeles beat the Jets, 4-2, at STAPLES Center yesterday. This awesome defensive move isn't uncommon in National Hockey League games, but this highlight by Quick shows why the Kings are still a formidable team to beat almost two years after they won their first title in the Stanley Cup Finals. Hopefully, we'll see Quick and company making more memorable plays like this come June—if you're a hockey-loving Angeleno, that is. Or an Anaheim Ducks fan who jumped ship (because you just don't want to root for a team that's currently ranked 1st in the NHL's Pacific Division)... Carry on.


Los Angeles Kings / FOX Sports

The Stadium Series...

AP

The Anaheim Ducks bested the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0, at Dodger Stadium last night. I want either team to reach and win the Stanley Cup Finals this June, so it's all good...


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AP

Photos of the Day... My SoCal Sports Wall of Fame has been updated—though it's still on the verge of becoming the Lakers Wall of Fame if Kobe and company manage to win another NBA title within the next two years. Anyways... To the L.A. Kings season ticket-holders who snatched up all the tickets to the Stanley Cup championship rally inside STAPLES Center tomorrow, thus preventing the general public (like me) from hearing the players' speeches after the parade concludes, I say screw you. I'm still going to the parade, though. But yea— Screw you.

Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

The Kings Finally Earn Their Crown... Props to the Los Angeles Kings for winning the 2012 Stanley Cup championship tonight! They are the third sports tenant at STAPLES Center (behind the Lakers and the Sparks) to win a title. Time for the Clippers to get their act together...what with non-STAPLES-residing L.A. teams such as the Galaxy and the Dodgers, plus Orange County teams like the Anaheim Angels and Ducks, having also won championships in the past decade. Well— Except for the Dodgers. Let's hope that Magic Johnson and his new management team changes that.

It's a good thing that the Kings won the championship today instead of last Saturday, 'cause I couldn't go to the parade if it was tomorrow (I have a doctor's appointment in the afternoon). The Kings' victory parade in downtown L.A. (obviously) will be this Thursday.


Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times


Patrick Fallon / Los Angeles Times


Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Jeff Gross / Getty Images

The Kings have a date with the Stanley Cup! Overlooking the fact tonight's clinching of the NHL Western Conference championship makes up for the disappointing loss by the Lakers and the expected defeat of the Clippers in the NBA playoffs, the L.A. Kings' return to the Stanley Cup Finals marks the second time in almost 20 years that this franchise reached the championship round (during the Wayne Gretzky era)...and also the second time in 5 years that a SoCal team was only 4 wins away from taking the Stanley Cup trophy. The Anaheim Ducks won it back in 2007.

Let's see if the Kings will soon be able to have their own championship banner hang next to those of the Lakers at STAPLES Center...the same way the Ducks' banner triumphantly hangs from a rafter at the Honda Center (as shown in the camera phone pic I took below) in Orange County. Not to jinx the Kings or anything. Carry on.

YESTERDAY, I drove down to STAPLES Center to buy a championship baseball cap that I can wear at the Lakers parade tomorrow. The cap was pretty expensive—I paid $32 for it—but it’s all good. I’m well aware that the cap was a lot cheaper at stores such as Champs Sports, Lids and even supermarkets like Albertsons, but I don’t care. It’s always awesome to visit STAPLES Center right after the Lakers have brought home a title. Been doing that since Kobe and Derek Fisher won their first championship in 2000...will do it again even if/when Kobe surpasses Michael Jordan and wins his 7th ring...which will hopefully be in 2012. Four-peat!!! Yes, I know— I’m thinking a little too far ahead.



I also updated my SoCal Sports Wall of Fame...which should pretty much become the Lakers Wall of Fame by next year if they three-peat. I hung up the Los Angeles Times sports page commemorating the Game 7 win three days ago (shown in the first pic below), while I relocated the sports section celebrating Kobe’s 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors in 2006 to the plastic sleeve that originally held the newspaper celebrating the college football championship won by the USC Trojans in 2005. Removing the newspaper honoring the Trojans was really not difficult... I lost considerable respect for USC (despite the fact I’m going there for tomorrow’s parade) after the NCAA recently handed down numerous penalties upon the college for allowing former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush (who won a Super Bowl ring with the New Orleans Saints this year) and star basketball player O.J. Mayo (who’s now playing for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA) to receive improper gifts from donors so they could stay and play for the Trojans. I still, however, have the L.A. Times front page commemorating the Anaheim Ducks’ 2007 Stanley Cup title hanging on my wall. Like last year’s photo, it’s not visible in any of the pics below. Oh well.

A DAY LATER... Just thought I’d show off my newly-updated SoCal Sports Wall of Fame, which covers all four Laker championships since 2000, plus titles by other southern California teams. The purple and gold streamers are from playoff games I attended during the Laker championship runs in 2000 through 2002. The newspaper on the bottom left-hand corner commemorates the January 2006 game where Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors at STAPLES Center, while the newspaper on the bottom right celebrates the USC Trojans winning the college football championship in 2005. NOT VISIBLE: The Los Angeles Times front page honoring the 2007 Stanley Cup championship won by the Anaheim Ducks. It's all good.

WHY THIS YEAR REMINDS ME OF 2003... This is a facetious entry, but I just wanna point out certain events that took (or are taking) place this year that reminds me of a few moments four years back.



JUNE 2003:
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim reach the Stanley Cup Finals but lose to the New Jersey Devils in 7 games.

JUNE 2007:
The Anaheim Ducks reach the Stanley Cup again...and defeat the Ottawa Senators in 5 games to win their first NHL championship.



JUNE/JULY 2003:
The Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity are launched on what would be very successful missions exploring the surface of the Red Planet. As of this entry, both of them are still up and running well. I could’ve had my name on two DVD’s that are currently onboard the landers they touched down on...but I wasn’t aware of the online name submissions campaign when it took place in 2002.

AUGUST 2007:
The Phoenix Mars Lander is launched on what will hopefully be a successful journey to the north polar region of the Red Planet. The lander is set to touch down on May 25, 2008. My name is on a DVD that is onboard the spacecraft. Go here for more details.



OCTOBER 2003:

A series of wildfires plagued Southern California and took the lives of at least 13 people. I remember I was working on a film shoot in Long Beach one day...and the set was completely covered in ashes. We were filming out on the parking lot for an elementary school.

OCTOBER 2007:
A series of wildfires once again plague Southern California...with more than 1 million people displaced from their homes and 1,155 houses destroyed (as of this entry). The situation is so bad that I woke up one morning this week and saw red light shining through the window of my bedroom and reflecting off my walls. That red hue was caused by smoke as it obscured the rising Sun. Keep in mind I live more than 30 miles away from the nearest blaze.

FALL 2003:
This entry is pretty amusing...to me, that is: I met Teary- err, Sherry during a film shoot in September of that year...and would go on to work two more productions with her over the next two months, before she finally did make-up work on my film Envious that December.

FALL 2007:
Go to this entry to know why Sherry is in my thoughts again! Her, along with Susie, are actually the two Asian girls on my mind right now, haha.

Just thought I’d share these with y’all.

Reuters

REDEMPTION COMPLETE! After falling to the New Jersey Devils in 7 games in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, the Anaheim Ducks redeemed themselves by defeating the Ottawa Senators, 6-2, in Game 5 tonight...winning the Ducks' first-ever championship since the team was founded by The Walt Disney Company in 1993. Anaheim is the very first California and West Coast city to take home the Cup. One wonders if the Los Angeles Kings will ever become the second SoCal team to do so as well.


Courtesy of The Anaheim Ducks Booster Club