NFL in LA Won’t Cure the Fallout

Some local football fans were surprised to discover the reason no professional football existed in LA actually had nothing to do with the recently ended lockout. Westchester native Micah Tyhurst said, “ It’s been a while since I saw football here. I heard so much about the lockout, I just assumed that’s why there weren’t any games.” Much to Mr. Tyhurst’s surprise, the lockout has not been ongoing since 1995, the last time Los Angeles saw football of the professional variety. The Raiders left for Oakland that summer, and the LA Rams were taken to St. Louis by Georgia Frontiere a year earlier. Turns out the lockout was a dispute over revenue sharing between the owners and players. Who knew?

Photo by Handout/Getty Images via Zimbio

In reality, the rest of the country had in some form been going through this offseason what the citizens of Los Angeles have been going through since 1995. Because of this, while it went mostly unacknowledged, the City of Angels experienced an unfamiliar kinship with the rest of the country.

The usual dislike and divide between LA and the rest of the country is easily exemplified by the familiar “beat LA” chants. But during the lockout current NFL cities were in football limbo like the City of Angels. I can’t speak to whether the Midwest cities of Cincinnati and Kansas City, the Southern cities of New Orleans and Nashville, or the New Yorkers and Bostonians on the East Coast felt any sort of empathy for us here in LA in regards to the hole left by what is widely regarded as the most popular sport in America. But some connections can be drawn between the two situations, and had there been any REAL threat to not have a season then there would have been a stronger bond between the rest of the country and us.

The “Beat LA” chants stem from what I would call a mix of jealousy and general dislike for smug celebrity culture of LA (and the beautiful weather). Staff writer Steve Silva of boston.com recalls the first time that was chanted. It was not at the Lakers actually, but rather by the Boston Garden fans at the Philadelphia 76ers that beat their Celtics in game 6 of the 1982 eastern Conference Finals urging them to beat the Lakers in the final (they lost in 6).

This dislike for LA could have been transferred onto the owners and the players fighting over big pieces of a really big pie. The uncertainty (or in our case certainty) of not having an NFL franchise is upsetting to fans, particularly to those cities whose identity is centered around their franchise. Upsetting enough to not root for their local teams—probably not. But enough to take a step back and feel empathy for all the Los Angeles natives stuck in traffic, without a local team game to look forward to come Sunday—it’s possible.

Like most Americans, I will readily accept the inevitable start of the NFL season, one fantasy football draft at a time.

But in all seriousness, the rest of the country is thankful that they don’t have to retire their dog pound outfits and terrible towels for the year. Yet, LA is going through even more of a sports identity crisis than normal when the NFL season approaches.

With the NBA lockout ongoing, and many believe that it could cancel the whole season, where will LA turn? LA has been a Lakers town since Phil Jackson walked through that door in 1999. No Lakers? What will Jack and Denzel and the rest of us do? I for one don’t expect them to be showing up at field level for Chivas USA. I think fans in LA will take their cue from their stars and go back to doing whatever it is they do (in their case be cool and make movies).

Even when we have teams and seasons, LA has been criticized for its arrive in the 3rd and leave in the 7th attitude. All LA fans aren’t fair weathered, because heaven knows if you’re a clipper fan that’s not the case. So who will be Los Angeles signature rooting interest in the absence of the Lakers and football? Or maybe a better question is will there be?

It would be great if the Dodgers could pack ‘em in Chavez Ravine, but the McCourt divorce pushed the offensively anemic Dodgers back a decade in their progress. Even the legitimate Cy Young and MVP candidacies of Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp respectively (each of which would be the first since Eric Gagne [‘03] and Kirk Gibson [88]) haven’t put the fans in their seats). The MLB attendance report had the Dodgers ranked first and average attendance in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Thus far this season, the Dodgers are ninth averaging 10, 000 less seats than the 46,440 they averaged in ’09.

It would be great if the offseason hockey hot stove talk and free agent acquisition of Mike Richards parleyed into a big season for the Kings. Then the City of Angels could be the city of Kings like it hasn’t been since the Great One ruled the Great Western Forum. Even if they have a great season, I would be pleasantly surprised if hockey took over, since hockey doesn’t always fit in a warm weather city.

It would be great if the Galaxy got the kind of support that the Seattle Sounders and Portland timbers get in the Northwest, but the ascent of soccer in LA and the United States still has a long way to go.

It would be great if the USC vs. UCLA rivalry to be escalated even more. If both teams have success locally even, and not nationally, and vie for the right to represent the South in the first Pac 12 title game that could stir up interest. I find it hard to believe that sanction riddled USC with second year head coach son of Monte Kiffin and another average Neuheisel coached team will compete for the Pac 12 conference title game.

But even if any of these scenarios of success played out, would the city rally around them, Flags flying around the freeway system—only time will tell. Hey, I would love to be wrong. It would be great to have fans expand their rooting interest to the up and coming teams in their city—or even the already successful ones. Follow the three-time defending champ USC mens water polo team, or UCLA standout sophomore Patrick Cantlay on the PGA tour this summer. We are good at being indifferent, we can and likely will go back to doing what is we do. It has been our M.O., which reminds me I have to go back to doing whatever else I do.

But it would be cool to have the rest of the sports be picked up by us—their fans.

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