Matt Jones was our 199th Facebook “like.” He also brought the heat on the podcast. Someday we’ll even talk to him about training for a marathon or distance race.

Happy 4th of July!

On this week’s episode, We called up our 199th Facebook “like,” and Luke got a chance to defend putting LeBron James so high on his list of top-20 NBA players of all-time.

Should Yasiel Puig be part of the All Star Game? Do the Angels matter in Los Angeles? Should the Lakers be begging Dwight Howard to come back?

Enjoy the podcast.

More recently, the want of living closer to Chavez Ravine has waned and the SLO life I live becomes more and more appealing. But for one day, the lure of Los Angeles was back with a vengeance.

If I lived in Southern California, I wouldn’t have to drive three and a half hours to go to a Dodgers/Lakers/UCLA/Kings/Galaxy, etc… game. But I don’t live in LA. I live in SLO Town.

I live in a place that you have to make the most of your big-city sporting experiences. To get to a Dodgers game, you have to leave early in the morning and plan to be home late at night. And that’s for a day-game.

This past Saturday, the Fansmanship crew along with Friend of Fansmanship (FOF), Evan, attended the Dodgers-Angels game in Anaheim and the Galaxy game vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps directly afterwards. The weather in mid-June was perfect and so were the two Los Angeles teams.

Throughout the game, vendors stopped right in front of us and people were generally in the way. Good for people-watching. Not as good for baseball-watching. Photo by Owen Main

Compared to stadiums I’ve been to, Angels Stadium was generally unimpressive — probably in the bottom 25-30% of ballparks in baseball. There is a press box in an awkward place (right behind home plate), the people from the upper level were all standing in the concourse of the lower level (crowding the walking-space severely), and our seats on the rail of the second part of the first level were awkward at-best.

We thought the seats were going to be awesome. They were physically comfortable — it’s always more roomy in the first row. But with the aisles off-set, there were people walking in front of us for basically the entire game. The worst/best was Churro Guy. While all the other guys would stop in front of us to have a nice chat, their wares still high above their head and in our sight-line, Churro Guy joined in the chant.

“Let’s go, Dodgers,” said Dodger fans, about 20 percent of the fans at this particular game.

“Let’s go, Angels,” said Angels fans, excited about the young Trout and Trumbo.

“Let’s go, Churros,” shouted Churro guy, always moving and always rolling with the crowd. He was one of few entertaining aspects of sitting on the rail.

The other entertainment was provided by the people-watching. At an event that I mistook for a sporting event, baseball watching took a back-seat to deafening speakers, roided out orange guys in tank tops, and silicon-enhanced Orange County stereotypes. It may be that I’m the baseball-purist, uppity Dodger fan, but it was far from the baseball-focused throw-down I’d hoped for.

We sped away from the Big A and ventured to the Galaxy game. Galaxy radio broadcaster Joe Tutino, one of the best guys in the business, encouraged us to come and so we did. Luke and Andy were really skeptical, but it seemed like they were enjoying themselves within the 5th minute of the match.

The Home Depot Center is a soccer jewel. Absolutely beautiful.

The Home Depot Center is the anti-Angels stadium. Everyone there seems into the game and are simply dressed and there to have a great time and support their team. Two entire sections, both packed to the brim spend the entire game on their feet, cheering, singing, dancing, and jumping around. The stadium is beautiful, still seems brand new, and there isn’t a bad seat there. Magee, Keane, and Beckham all scored and it was a romp. While half of our crew didn’t have a keen interest in soccer, I would go to another Galaxy game in a heartbeat.

The only downside was that they didn’t allow the camera lens we tried to bring in — the Angels let me but the Galaxy didn’t. This may be due to the Galaxy caring more about the fan experience. So look up those camera rules before you go.

Bottom line from Owen — For LA area baseball stadiums, Angels Stadium is a total second-fiddle to Dodgers Stadium, but can still be entertaining. Just don’t expect hardcore baseball fansmanship to be happening. I’ll admit there are some hardcore baseball fans, but from what I saw, the general focus was far away from the game. And there are too many distractions. Galaxy games are awesome. Congratulations to the MLS and Galaxy for really developing a first-rate professional soccer experience in the US.

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Bottom line from Luke –If only you lived in Los Angeles Owen? Buried by concrete and car exhaust?

I’ll take the SLO life. I’ll take it for so many reasons: the bike paths, hiking, rugged unfettered coastline, clean air and low stress living. I’ll take it for it’s quiet evenings and award winning wine country. I’ll take it because I sense God here.

Living on the CC as a serious sports fan means you have to earn your fansmanship. You have to battle the morning alarm clock on a Saturday just to enter a baseball stadium, and then three hours later, do it all again, this time with a bad beer-coma — 4 hours by congested freeway.

LA is a damn circus spinning a few awes but after a while you just get tired of the bright lights and fame and fixate on your zenful haven. You use the bitch for it’s worth and let her go.

I use Los Angeles and easily let her go. I let her go to the honking rat racers and the fake tans. I’d rather live in an outhouse listening to the didgeredoo of the waves than I would in the heart of hell just to see a few more ball games every year.

Not even the Angels or the Dodgers can compete with the simplicity of the central coast. And the MLS, according to Evan Moffit, “is the C-league of International soccer.” So, while it has improved and while the fans were rowdy, they they don’t even enter the conversation for me.

The baseball game was nice. Sitting with friends for a few hours talking baseball, listening to the drunk chants “let’s go doyers…” was worth it all because I’m just that serious of a sports fan. I’ll go to war to get there a couple times a year.

And Owen, you’re right — the big A is not as hardcore as Dodger stadium is. People don’t bash others over the head for wearing an opposing team’s cap. And yes, it is more expensive. But we’ve got a better firework show than you do.

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Bottom line from Andy — I’m the driver – a driving fiend. Didn’t someone say something about a destination and a journey? Living 3+ hours away from Goger Stayum is no big deal for a guy like me. I like the drive. I like averting the mess of the 101, 134 and 5 for the smooth sailing of the 118, 210 and 2. So as far as the time it takes to get down there? Doesn’t bother me one bit.

The last time I went to the Big A was when I was 12 years old. This was before it became the Disney-afied grounds it is today. It seems like it is a monstrocity in the middle of nowhere really. One sky scraper in the distance as the stadium appears off a residential street named Katella, that seems like it would be best fit somewhere in Santa Maria. The inside was nothing special. Some rocks, some fountains, some fireworks, but I couldn’t feel the nostalgia and history like I do in Dodger Stadium. Not even close.

The drive to Carson was swift and painless. I still can’t believe that guys like David Beckham and Landon Donovan play in a stadium located on a State College Campus. For how exciting the game supposedly was for a soccer game (Galaxy won 3-0), the three random 30-second outbursts of energy and constant chanting and horn-blowing throughout the entire game wasn’t worth the time investment for a guy like me. Not to say it wasn’t a good time for a one-time thing, but its not something I would look forward to doing again. I guess I just don’t understand the “primitive-ness” of soccer.

All-in-all, the trip was well worth it. To spend time with good friends, share some laughs and just get away from it all for an epic day of sports and grub is something that is truly appreciated by this fan.

If you are a Los Angeles sports fan, all of these dates should probably mean something to you. You probably remember where you were at a certain point during each of these days when you heard the news. Or watched the game.

A generation ago, people remembered where they were when JFK was shot. No sports-related news will ever come close, but for die-hard Lakers and Dodgers fans, there are a few moments that stand-out. In my lifetime (born in 1981), here are the top goose-bump-worthy and memorable moments for the Lakers and their fans. Jonesing for some NBA time, I’ve gone back and picked five of my favorites. They are personal to me. Many people may have others, and I’d like to hear about yours as well. Here’s hoping the NBA lockout ends soon!

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5: May 26, 2002 – Robert Horry takes a tipped rebound and drills a 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending Staples Center into pandemonium.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=769f_gjkDaA

In my college apartment with my roommates and others, I jumped up and took a lap with my Shaq jersey on. It was clear that the Lakers were becoming beatable, and that I better enjoy it while it lasted. For Lakers fans, the 3-peat was so, so sweet.

4: January 23, 2006 – Kobe Bryant scores 81 points. Because Toronto can’t play any defense and Kobe never saw a shot he didn’t like. He made 18 free throws and helped to win a game that featured the likes of Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown, Smush Parker and Lamar Odom along with Kobe in the starting lineup. No wonder he didn’t pass…

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRikrksH8es

My cousin called me at my house. I was living in Colorado and probably sleeping. I didn’t watch much of the Lakers that year (see starting lineup above), but I definitely taped the replay and watched it later on. Can anyone imagine what would have happened if Kobe hadn’t acted like a jerk in his final years with Shaq, causing everyone in their right mind to shy away from the purple and gold for a number of years…?

3: June 9, 1987 – Magic Johnson hits a sky-hook in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. When Larry Bird’s shot doesn’t go at the buzzer, the Lakers take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. (Still wondering where Amazing will happen this year…)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT4D0t3jH5k

Along with the Gibson home run, Magic’s sky hook is one of two indelibly imprinted sports moments during the first 10 years of my life. I was on the living room floor watching the game. I was so into the game, that I don’t even remember who else was there. Probably my dad. When Magic made the sky-hook, all seemed right with the world.

2: November 7, 1991 – Magic Johnson announces he has HIV and retires. Among everything else, Magic retires not from the NBA, not from professional basketball, but “from the Lakers.” Because there isn’t another team he would have ever played for.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSfy4AhDDnw

I was 10 years old and went to soccer practice. I remember running laps before practice. The feeling of emptiness and the unknown when it came to a childhood idle is something I remember to this day. 

1: August 5, 2002 – Chick Hearn passes away. I’ll admit it. I cried. Chick was the greatest. For the first 21 years of my life, it was Chick and Vin. How lucky was I? I didn’t take the play by play guys by granted then and I still don’t. There will never be anyone like Chick. He was simply the best.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFBxNCiL7cw

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J78OKgsyP8

Living in Florida, I moved a little slower that day. I went down to the park and watched a pickup basketball game for a while. I told myself I’d wait until I heard the group of athletic Caribbean ballers use 10 Chick-isms. Ten minutes later, I was on my way home. If you hear anyone talk about Chick who was ever around him, all they have to say are good things. I can’t help but think that Chick would straighten some fools out when it comes to the current lockout situation. We miss you Chick.