August 3, 2014: Los Angeles Times

Watching the Cubs play out in LA on Saturday night brings back memories.  Living out in LA for 4 years, I tried to attend as many games as possible when my teams came out to the West Coast.

I’ve been to Dodger Stadium many times to see the Cubs play; it’s true what they say.  They come in the 3rd, and leave in the 7th.  That’s a LA stereotype, but like a lot of stereotypes, it’s true.  Traffic is a big contributing factor.  When I moved back to Chicago I said I would never complain about the traffic again.  It is brutal out there; there’s no other way to put it.  This coming late/leaving early syndrome bothers me as a true fan.  What also bothers me is when fans don’t know how to act.  For example, the Cub playoff game that I attended in LA, which will be on the list of worst all time games that I have attended, the LA fans were acting like amateurs.  After a base hit in the 1st inning, fans stood up and applauded; that part is OK.  Then, they stood standing for the whole inning.  It’s the first inning, it’s a base hit, cheer and sit back down.  It’s like being in Church with people who rarely go; they don’t know when to stand up or sit down.

Dodger Stadium was beautiful though.  It’s one of the older stadiums in the league, but it is nice.  Sitting down in the valley, you can enter on either the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level.  I can’t think of another stadium like that.  We also hit Angels stadium when the Sox came out; I wasn’t impressed.  Maybe because we sat in the top level (1st row), and it seemed like we were WAY away from the action, but this newer stadium doesn’t make my list of favorite stadiums.

I did like the Staples Center.  We usually had decent seats when we went to see the Bulls take on the Lakers.  I would stand and yell stuff at Kobe, Odom, and Gasol.  I would remind Kobe he would never be Jordan.  I would ask Odom if he was high, and I would call Gasol Streetwise, for his charmingly homeless look.  We went to see the Bulls play the Lakers each year I was out there.  We never saw them play the Clippers… not sure why, but the Staples Center was decent.

One of the more common levitra line why not try this out flash video or flash-based exploits over social network sites involves flash-based games. Tips canadian viagra store When you plan levitra, invest some time in order to become a learned driver. If you’re wondering how to slow down the aging process, you must realize that everything you do in life affects how well pfizer viagra 50mg you age. Plus, your soft cialis relationship with your partner deepens even more. I also saw the Hawks play the Kings there.  Who would have known years later that this would be a heated rivalry.  The game was crowded when I went, with a lot of Blackhawks fans.  We had great seats in the first level, maybe 20 rows up from the blue line.  I doubt I could get those same type of seats now for a Kings game, and I definitely know they’re out of my budget at the UC.

Finally, I travelled up the coast to see the Bears play the Raiders.  This was an interesting experience which I will chronicle in full detail one day.  Of course, there were Bears fans, just not as much as you would normally see at a road game.  Maybe the whole Oakland black hole thing kept some away.

That’s the one constant watching my teams on the road.  There are ALWAYS lots of Chicago fans representing.  Besides following our teams wherever they go, out in Los Angeles, there were many transplants who ran from the cold weather.  I did find a Bears bar out in Burbank, which was cool.  I went there when my brother came out, and it was packed from wall to wall.  It was a little dive that was about 75% full of Chicago transplants.  It was very cool.  That’s the one thing I never got about LA; why they don’t have a football team.  The weirdest thing on Sunday was when I was at work looking for a local station that talked about the NFL; I couldn’t find it.  I did find a USC show; make me barf!

Los Angeles doesn’t stack up to Chicago when it comes to sports.  I’m sure there are other cities with rabid fans, but LA is not one of them.  They have their core fans, but for everybody else it’s just something to do.  That bothers me too, especially when I’m there enduring another heartbreaking loss while these fans are celebrating about something they really don’t care that much about.  That’s just the way it is out there, but no one can touch Chicago in that aspect.  Obviously I am biased, but I believe it.  There are always bandwagon fans, but there are much more die hard fans.  I like this.  That’s just another reason why I love Chicago: home of the die-hard fan.