SSDL BLOG: “Beautiful Baseball, Buccaneers, Bashes and Bragging”
“Beautiful Baseball, Buccaneers, Bashes and Bragging”
September 29, 2021
“Three Months Later, LA Sports and SSDL Making Moves”
Los Angeles, California - A whole lot can happen in three months. For instance, here on the Westside Los Angeles, the weather has dropped from 75 degrees to 72 degrees. It’s also been nearly that long since my last blog, which I regret, but I am trying to forgive myself for the lapse, with consideration to what has been happening in Los Angeles sports and with Sports Stories.
First and foremost, I have been mesmerized by the greatest rivalry in baseball play out these last three months. No, not the one on the East Coast between the Yankees and the Sox, but the one that moved from neighboring boroughs in New York City to the South and North of the Golden State. The two teams whose disdain for each other runs as hot as fire is the one between the Dodgers and the Giants.
On July 8, the date of my last blog, the Giants held a one game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West. Today, as I write, “the hated ones” from up North lead the West by two games, with only five games remaining. It is astounding to think that the team finishing in second place, more than likely the “beloved” Dodgers, will have won over 100 games and will have to play a wild card “play-in” game, where they will face the red hot St. Louis Cardinals and their ace pitcher Adam Wainwright. That aint right to have to face Wainwright!
However, if things break right this week for the team that broke the color barrier, there will be a tie-breaker.
If so, the Dodgers will have to keep a close eye on the OG’s of cheating. Back in NYC in ‘51, the Giants concocted an elaborate scheme to steal pitches in the Polo Grounds, winning the pennant with the Bobby Thomson “shot heard round the world” home run.
“THE GIANTS STOLE THE PENNANT!, “THE GIANTS STOLE THE PENNANT!”
In 1962 out West in the “Official State of Governor Recall Elections”, both teams won 101 games in the regular season. In the deciding game of the tie-breaker, the Giants starting pitcher was Juan Marichal, who, three years later, would crack the Dodgers Johnny Roseboro over the head with a bat in a brawl. The Giants won again. Cheating, assault with a deadly weapon, wow, those Giants really do have boundary issues!
Speaking of cheaters, the Houston Astro’s came to town and I was fortunate enough to bask in the beauty of an early August sunset at Dodger Stadium and watch the “Boys in Blue” new ace, Max Scherzer, make his Dodger debut. Max shut down those cheating Astro’s with gem. Dodger Stadium echoed with loud cheers as “Mad Max” took a curtain call.
Throughout the summer I stayed true to a daily, early morning workout plan. Swimming in the ocean or at the YMCA and then hitting a sculpt or fusion class at Hot 8 Yoga (sponsor plug) started each day. Good thing, because I will need a strong back to pick up all the names I’m about to drop. I attended two nights of fundraising parties August 19 and 20 that were hosted by the subject of Sports Stories most recent docuseries, college basketball influencers and entrepreneurs Dana and David Pump.
Hanging at the Beverly Hilton with the likes of Smokey Robinson, Mike Tyson and Cedric the Entertainer was a trip, so was talking hoops with Lakers coach Frank Vogel and UCLA head man Mick Cronin. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue and I got to chat about our mutual acquaintance, team consultant and SSDL guest Jerry West, as well as the new state-of-the-art Clipper arena being built in Inglewood.
Laker legend and champion Byron Scott and I had a chance to catch up, reminiscing about the good old days in the 80’s playing high school summer league basketball in Inglewood. We remembered Byron skying high to dunk for the Morningside High School Monarchs, and me playing for St. Bernard High trying to take a charge.
As September rolled around, so did football. There is no place more picturesque to watch a game than the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, especially when UCLA wears their blue jerseys, symbolizing the ocean, trimmed with yellow to reflect the Golden State sunsets. SEC power LSU came to town September 4th and got spanked in the Arroyo Secco, 38-27. Didn’t see that one coming.
The beauty of that win was only matched by another football team in blue and yellow, in a stadium so gorgeous they named it after Sofia Loren, or, at least that’s what I heard. Sofi Stadium is a marvel, one of the “wonders of the world” status is granted.
Another wonder is the Tampa Bay QB Tom Brady, who brought his defending Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers to town last weekend and got Rammed. Rams quarterback Matt Stafford, exiled from Detroit, must have watched plenty of film, as in the 1986 classic “Ram It”. Stafford rammed 343 yards and 4 TD’s down the Buccaneers skulls. I was part of a crowd, fired up by the booming voice of Rams Sofi Stadium announcer (and SSDL guest) Sam Lagana, that made enough noise to rattle the allegedly human, seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback.
The Sunday after next I will get a chance to watch my second and third favorite NFL teams square off at Sofi as the Browns come to town to take on the Chargers. I will note that in July I was a guest on the popular “Into to the Lab Podcast” and predicted an “All-L.A. Super Bowl”, hosted at Sofi Stadium. You can go ahead and plan on it, and on 72 degree weather in the world’s only open air stadium.
Finally, SSDL shows have tracked well enough on LA36 Cable TV to get a promotion to the weeknight 7:00pm time slot and to expand to similar TV channels across the country. Soon, you can catch our episodes on Cable TV in New York City, Chicago, Miami, Houston and Tempe, with more to follow. Sports Stories will also soon be making a move to a new platform, MyCutTV, which is available for download on your smart phone.
Onto the World Series, the Rose Bowl and the Super Bowl. Did I mention Russel Westbrook is back in town?
Denny Lennon is a the host of the Video Podcast, “Sports Stories with Denny Lennon” and the “Preps To Olympians” Live TV Show.
Sports Stories with Denny Lennon shows, including video podcasts, archived live shows and special features are available at: YouTube.com/SSDL
Social media links, archives and more are available on our website: SportsStoriesDL.com