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LA Sports: Why Los Angeles is the American Capital of sports

By Jamaal Artis

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Snow-capped mountains stand behind the downtown skyline on February 11, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. A series of snowstorms and rainstorms in California in recent weeks have drastically reduced drought conditions across the state, with only 10 percent of the state now considered in moderate or extreme drought. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Snow-capped mountains stand behind the downtown skyline on February 11, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. A series of snowstorms and rainstorms in California in recent weeks have drastically reduced drought conditions across the state, with only 10 percent of the state now considered in moderate or extreme drought. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) /
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Despite the bad image it gets from East Coast sports media, the LA Sports scene truly is special and is the capital of American sports.

In my time writing for LA Sports Hub, there have been times where I’ve said Los Angeles could be the capital of sports in the USA. It’s no longer “could”; we can now declare that Los Angeles indeed is the sports capital of the USA.

Boston can have their parades, The Bay Area has become a one-trick pony and the only thing elevated in New York is their own self-superiority, certainly not their sports teams.

No city can boast the star power and firepower that the LA Sports scene can. Do you want superstars? How do the names LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard sound? That’s just in the NBA.

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On Friday night, Cody Bellinger hit his league-leading 41st home run to help the Los Angeles Dodgers rout the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta and push their league-best win total to 82 wins.

If Bellinger stays on pace and the Dodgers continue to be Major League Baseball’s best team, then it is likely that he will be named NL MVP.

Just mere hours later, the guy who will win AL MVP, Mike Trout, tied Bellinger by hitting his 41st home run, which is his career-high. Along with home runs, Trout leads the AL in slugging (.668), OBP (.444) and OPS (1.112).

When the NBA put out its schedule it is no surprise that the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers were the premier match on opening night. The NBA even upped the ante by pitting both teams against each other on Christmas Day too.

It’s no wonder the NBA did this with the star power of James and Davis with the Lakers and Leonard and George on the Clippers. The NBA knows they have a burgeoning rivalry that has made LA the place to be during the NBA season.

Last season, the veteran New England Patriots had to go through LA to win another Super Bowl. The Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC Divisional Round and then the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl.

Both teams will be coming back stronger than ever as they try to bring the first Super Bowl title to LA since 1984. They both have great players such as Rams defensive end Aaron Donald and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.

The Rams have Sean McVay coaching them and he could be the offensive guru for the next decade of football, much like his Super Bowl foe Bill Belichick was for defensive in the last two.

Then there’s hockey…

Just kidding the Kings and Ducks are crappy, just wanted to make sure I still had your attention.

Even in a niche sport like Major League Soccer, all roads go through LA. The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) has the best record in the league (55 points) in just their second season of play.

They boast the best player in the league, Carlos Vela, who is likely to be named league MVP at the end of the season. They also have one of the best venues in the league, Banc of California Stadium, boasting views of Downtown Los Angeles that no one can match.

https://twitter.com/LAFC/status/1160754897865674752?s=20

LAFC’s rival, the LA Galaxy, just down the road has one of their own superstars — the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic — with the skill and ego to match. With both Vela and Ibrahimovic on the pitch, the LAFC-Galaxy rivalry matches are must-see TV, regardless of your fandom.

Speaking of venues, the Los Angeles Coliseum, home of USC Trojans, just unveiled their recent renovations updating the grand arena. Dodger Stadium will be getting a makeover this coming winter and the Los Angeles Rams will open up their new Inglewood home Los Angeles Stadium in the fall of 2020.

All these sites getting a fresh coat of paint aren’t just for kicks, as LA will host the sporting world in the next coming years with the MLB All-Star game coming in 2020, the Super Bowl in 2022, the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2023 and the Olympic Games starting in 2022.

Next. Top 30 players in Lakers history. dark

Superstars, winning teams, rivalries and big-time venues. The LA Sports scene has all of these things and more. There is no more questioning it… Los Angeles is the capital of sports.

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